Unravelling Risk Structures in Nigeria’s Rice Supply Chain: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Agriculture generally is faced with a lot of risks that are beyond the control of actors and stakeholders in the sector. This paper unravels the susceptible risks present in the rice supply chain, management and coping strategies in Nigeria. Just-Critical reviews of the past works done on risk in agriculture were examined by a desk study. Production, processing and storage risks are important in describing output variation for different actors and national output over the years. Knowledge of these risks will go a long way in helping them to subdue. The channel in which the rice flows was reviewed. Different sources of risk in rice supply chain such as production risk, processing risk and storage risk were reviewed. To manage these risks, risk management strategies and coping strategies were reviewed. This review identified the risk, risk prevention strategies and coping strategies applied at different points of the chains. It was found out that risks were not only present in production stage but also in processing and storage. The prevention strategies recommended include crop rotation, mulching, water harvesting, and irrigation. While the coping strategies recommended are income diversification activities such as engaging in off-farm work to complement the income from farming and mixed farming system such as rearing animal to compliment income.

Keywords: risk structure, rice supply chain, coping strategies, risk management, Nigeria.