Against the claim by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, that Nigeria had achieved the “record of second largest producer of rice in the world“, facts have shown that the presidency lied.
Nigeria is neither the second largest producer of rice in the world, nor is the country among the top 10 countries that produce rice.
Data obtained by THE WHISTLER from WorldRiceProduction.com shows that Garba Shehu did not only lie to Nigerians at a time that the country battles recession, but also misled thousands into believing that a rice revolution began in the country in 2016.
Rice Production by Country 2016/2017 (Values in Metric Tons)
1. China: 144,850,000
2. India: 106,500,000
3. Others: 41,285,000
4. Indonesia: 36,600,000
5. Bangladesh: 34,581,000
6. Vietnam: 27,800,000
7. Thailand: 18,600,000
8. Burma: 12,500,000
9. Philippines: 11,500,000
10. Brazil: 7,820,000
11. Japan: 7,790,000
12. United States: 7,117,000
13. Pakistan: 6,640,000
14. Cambodia: 4,700,000
15. Egypt: 4,554,000
16. Korea, South: 4,197,000
17. Nepal: 3,100,000
Exposing Mr. Shehu’s lies further, the data by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), indicates that Nigeria in 2016 did not make the list of top 10 rice producers in the world as it only produced about 2.7 million metric tonnes in that year.
It is therefore safe to say that the nation comfortably sits at 18th position in the top 20 ranking of rice producers worldwide as against Shehu’s second position.