Nigeria’s domestic rice industry is facing a systemic collapse as a combination of large-scale smuggling and high import volumes has forced the shutdown of nearly 90 out of 150 integrated rice mills nationwide.
The Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) raised a fresh alarm on Monday, March 9, 2026, revealing that more than 60 percent of the country’s integrated rice mills have ceased operations. According to RIPAN Director-General Dr. Andy Ekwelem, the influx of cheap, smuggled foreign rice has rendered domestic production uncompetitive, leaving the remaining functional mills operating at a fraction of their installed capacity. “Out of more than 150 rice mills nationwide, nearly 90 have shut down operations. The remaining mills are currently operating between 30 and 70 per cent of their installed capacity,” Ekwelem stated during a high-level stakeholder meeting in Abuja. He further clarified that recent price drops in some markets are not a result of improved local harvests but are instead “largely driven by the activities of organised smuggling networks.”
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and agricultural consultancy Vestance underscores the scale of the challenge, showing that Nigeria’s food import bill surged to N7.65 trillion in 2025—a significant jump from N3.83 trillion in 2023. While the government implemented a temporary duty-free waiver between July 2024 and December 2025 to curb food inflation, critics argue the window allowed for a glut of foreign grain that has now destabilized the local value chain. By December 2025, the country recorded a technical rice surplus of 1.1 million metric tonnes; however, industry experts like Kolawale Oye of Infinera Agribusiness noted that “that surplus wasn’t a success of local farms and mills, it was driven by imports.”
In response to the growing outcry from processors who claim their N3.4 trillion investment is at risk, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, admitted that the current market dynamics are unsustainable for local producers. The Minister warned that when smuggled rice is sold at prices far below the cost of local processing, it discourages future investment and threatens the job security of over 100,000 industry workers and millions of farmers. “Government will not hesitate to take necessary policy actions to protect local industry and sustain Nigeria’s rice value chain,” Enoh assured, adding that the administration is reviewing border enforcement measures to stem the tide of illegal imports and restore the gains of domestic backward integration.
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