Under Buhari, Was Nigeria the Largest Producer of Rice in Africa?

Under Buhari, Was Nigeria the Largest Producer of Rice in Africa?

Claim: Nigeria became the largest producer of rice under Buhari. Verdict: True Background On Monday, January 13, 2025, an X (Twitter) user, @dhot_man, asserted that during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Nigeria became the largest producer of rice on the African continent (see tweet screenshot below). The claim reads, “Nigeria became the largest producer of

Claim: Nigeria became the largest producer of rice under Buhari.

Verdict: True

Background
On Monday, January 13, 2025, an X (Twitter) user, @dhot_man, asserted that during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, Nigeria became the largest producer of rice on the African continent (see tweet screenshot below). The claim reads, “Nigeria became the largest producer of rice under Buhari.”
A screenshot of the claim

Screenshot of the Claim

The claim suggested that between May 2015 and May 2023, when Buhari was the president of Nigeria, the nation became Africa’s largest producer of rice. Rice is a staple crop in Nigeria, with the country’s rice production rising from 3.7 million metric tonnes in 2017 to 4.0 million metric tonnes in 2018 and nine million tonnes in 2021.

Reports also indicate that rice is the third most consumed crop in the nation, after maize and cassava, even though consumption far exceeds production, with a yearly average deficit of about 2.4 million tonnes recorded between 2007 and 2018.

The high consumption rate of the crop, coupled with other factors such as the increased cost of transportation due to fuel price hikes, the current administration’s economic policies, and import and excise duties, has led to a surge in its market price, with a 50kg bag of rice selling between N85,000 and N130,000 in September and October of 2024.

The exorbitant price of this essential commodity contradicts the claim of Nigeria being the largest producer of rice under Buhari, given that his tenure ended about 20 months ago.

This prompted the verification of the authenticity of the claim to ascertain whether Nigeria was truly the largest producer of rice under Buhari, to verify if Nigeria still largely produces rice or not, and to update public records on rice production in the country and Africa at large.

Verification
We conducted a Google keyword search to confirm the veracity of the claim that Nigeria was Africa’s largest rice producer during Buhari’s tenure. Findings revealed that as of 2022, Nigeria was truly Africa’s largest producer of rice, producing about 8.5 million metric tonnes yearly, followed by Egypt and Madagascar. Further findings also reveal that Nigeria is the 14th producer of rice in the world.


Screenshot of the World’s Rice Production

The then-President Buhari’s 2016 ban on rice imports across land borders set the stage for this accomplishment in 2020. Buhari sustained the feat by introducing the rice pyramids in January 2022, as detailed here and here.

Conclusion
After reviewing the available data on rice production in Africa and the global market to determine whether Nigeria became the largest producer of rice in Africa during Buhari’s tenure, findings indicate that as of 2022, while Muhammadu Buhari was still the president of the country, Nigeria became the largest producer of rice in Africa. Therefore, the claim that Nigeria became the largest producer of rice under Buhari is true.

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