…PROMISES TO END RICE IMPORTATION<\/p>\n
The Dangote Rice Outgrower Scheme in Jigawa State reached a turning point
\nyesterday when the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote laid a
\nfoundation stone for the construction of a multi-billion Naira rice
\nprocessing mill in Hadin, Jigawa state.<\/p>\n
The mill with capacity to process 16 metric tons of paddy rice per hour,
\nwhen completed will in a year process paddy rice worth N14 billion bought
\ndirectly from the famers in Jigawa at market rate.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony in Hadin, Kaugama local
\ngovernment area, Dangote said the commencement of the construction of the
\nintegrated rice processing plant was the culmination of series of events
\nwhich began with the signing of a $1billion agreement with the federal
\ngovernment for the integrated rice production in Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara,
\nKano, Niger and Jigawa.<\/p>\n
We have continued to pioneer new approaches to empowering our primary
\nstakeholders and our farmers, through the Dangote outgrowers programme
\nthereby creating thousands of jobs, increasing incomes poverty reduction
\nin rural communities by providing high quality agro-inputs, technical
\nsupport and secured market for farmers. Also, creating access to finance,
\nmechanization and irrigation services so as to enhance agricultural
\nproductivity., he stated<\/p>\n
Recalling that the Dangote Rice limited started the outgrowers scheme in
\n2016 with thousands of hectares of land in Hadejia, Jigawa state,
\ncreating over 10,000 jobs (direct and indirect) to farmers, the business
\nmogul said with the new ultra modern mill enough paddy rice will be grown
\nand harvested for processing.<\/p>\n
According to him, the mill which will take only months for installation
\nand commissioning is the first in the series of five other mills coming up
\nin Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi and Niger States in the first phase, while
\nin the second phase, other mills will be built in Nasarawa, Kogi, and
\nother states.<\/p>\n
Said he: When these planned six mills come fully on stream, we will
\nachieve a capacity of seven hundred thousand metric tons per annum of Par
\nboiled rice, which will make Dangote Rice the largest rice producer in
\nAfrica and will make a bold step in making Nigeria self-sufficient in Rice
\nproduction, stop importation Nduka save the nation foreign exchange <\/p>\n
Dangote stated further that towards co-creating value for all
\nstakeholders, the company has engaged about 20,000 out growers who are
\nexpected to produce an average of 180,000 tons of paddy rice on about
\n30,000 hectares of land. We are focused on engaging in the region of
\n300,000 farmers in the next 12 months when our rice mills are all
\nfunctional and we achieve steady state.<\/p>\n
We will continue to launch massive agricultural projects across the
\ncountry in rice and dairy farming. Our push for backward integration in
\nproviding our own raw materials on a massive scale has led to the planned
\ninvestment of $4.6 billion over the next three years in sugar, rice and
\ndairy production alone. That will eliminate the countrys reliance on
\nimported materials, and the foreign exchange headaches that comes with
\nit.<\/p>\n
In his opening remarks, the Dangote Group Executive Director, Devakumar
\nEdwin explained that the Dangote Rice team has been involved in scaling up
\nthe outgrower operations to a least 5,000 hectares this season and this
\nwill very soon increase and grow to over 15,000 hectares cultivated per
\ncycle or season to fully optimise operations.<\/p>\n
He said the establishment of a Multi-billion Naira state-of-the-art
\nintegrated rice processing facility to process at least 260 metric tons of
\nrice paddy per day grown which is produced from thousands of local rice
\nout growers within Jigawa state is a giant step forward and expresses his
\ncompanys confidence and faith in local farmers to continuously stand with
\nDangote to make this project a success.<\/p>\n
Located on 25 hectares site in Hadin, Edwin noted that the mill is
\nearmarked to begin operations in the last quarter of 2018. During the
\nconstruction phase and when it becomes fully operational, hundreds of
\nemployment opportunities will be created, knowledge transference and
\nskills developed among our teeming youthful population thereby boosting
\nlocal economy.<\/p>\n
According to him, the Jigawa famers are in for a good times as the 125,
\n000 metric tons of paddy rice that this plant requires for processing will
\nbe brought from the farmers of Jigawa for an estimated purchase price of
\nN14 billion per annum. This is a huge benefit for the farmers in Jigawa.
\nThis mill will be producing high quality parboiled rice that competes with
\nthe best in the world this is in-line with our continuous aim to touch the
\nlives of millions who believe in the Dangote brand.<\/p>\n
Jigawa State is endowed and blessed with vast fertile land, water
\nresources, climate and progressive people, as well as one of the fastest
\ngrowing agricultural destinations in Nigeria, was identified as an ideal
\nlocation for us to set up our first facility in Nigeria. This obviously
\nreinforces our commitment to supporting the efforts of the present
\nadministration in developing a robust agro-industry in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
We made commitment to Nigerians that we will produce 1 million metric ton
\nof quality par boiled rice. Since then we have embarked on several
\ninitiatives towards achieving this objective with support and
\ncollaboration from state and federal government agencies, ministries and
\ndepartments, non-governmental organisations, community based
\norganisations, traditional and financial institutions, etc., we continue
\nto pioneer new approaches to empowering our primary stakeholders and our
\nfarmers, through the Dangote outgrower program thereby creating thousands
\nof jobs, increasing incomes, poverty reduction in rural communities by
\nproviding high quality agro-inputs, technical support and secured market
\nfor farmers.<\/p>\n
Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru expressed delight at the
\nstage of the Dangote Rice project in the state saying it was in line with
\nthe vision of the Invest Jigawa, an organ set up to accelerate investments
\nin the state.<\/p>\n
He said Jigawa is one of the States reputed to be on top on ease of doing
\nbusiness in Nigeria saying the Dangote Rice presence in the state is a
\npointer to the fact. He added that the state is also in the forefront of
\nthe diversification efforts of the federal government from oil to non oil
\nventures especially agriculture.<\/p>\n
He promised that the state will be willing to do whatever it will take to
\nensure the Dang9te rice operate smoothly to the satisfaction of .all
\nparties in the state<\/p>\n
…PROMISES TO END RICE IMPORTATION The Dangote Rice Outgrower Scheme in Jigawa State reached a turning point yesterday when the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote laid a foundation stone…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n