As Egypt’s rice production falls, Nigeria becomes Africa’s largest rice producer

Egypt’s rice production has fallen almost 40% y-o-y in 2019, with Nigeria now overtaking us as Africa’s largest rice producer,Nigerian news outlet Naij.com reports. Egypt was previously producing 4.3 mn tonnes of rice a year but the government decided to cut production citing concerns about the amount of water used. The Agriculture Ministry was given greater powers to regulate crop growth last April following amendments to the Agriculture Act.