The Federal Government on Thursday called on stakeholders to come up with strategies that will reposition Nigeria as a major player in yam export.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, made the call in Abuja at a stakeholders workshop on Repositioning Yam as an Export Crop.
Umakhihe described the workshop as very timely as Nigeria is diversifying its economy towards non- oil export commodities.
The workshop seeks to address the crucial issues regarding the export of yams for increase in foreign earnings and wealth creation.
The theme of the workshop is “Prospects and Challenges of Yam Export in Nigeria”.
Umakhihe was represented by the Director of the Federal Department of Agriculture, Mr Abdullahi Abubakar.
He said the aim of the meeting was to reawaken the consciousness of Nigerians on the export of yam for national wealth creation, increased income for farmers and job creation.
“We must take deliberate action to take
yam production, processing and marketing to the next level in line with international best practices.
“There is the need to critically examine the factors militating against quality production and export of our major commodities of which yam is one of them.
“Nigeria is the leading producer of fresh yams, yet it is unfortunate to note that despite the huge production, Nigeria is nowhere in the map of countries that export yams,” Umakhihe said.
He said in 2020, Nigeria contributed 67 per cent while Ghana contributed 10 per cent to global output.
“However, Ghana remains the second highest world exporter of yam for over ten years and the highest in West Africa with 94 per cent annual export contribution.
“Ghana’s income earning from export of yam has grown from $18.48m in 2015 to $39.7m in 2021.
“If Ghana that produces only 10 per cent of global production can earn as much, Nigeria can earn six times more than Ghana based on her production capacity,” Umakhihe said.
In a goodwill message, Prof. Simon Irtwange, National President, National Association of Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers, said that yam is food security crop.
Irtwange said yam has an enormous potential as a foreign exchange earner.
“If we are going to upscale production and produce quality yams that we can export, then we need to look at our production.
“Can we change from heaps to the ridges? In which case, we can bring in mechanisation and we will be able to produce yam in the size and shape required for export. It is not every yam tuber that is exportable,” he said.
In a presentation, Dr Beatrice Aighewi, Yam Seed System Specialist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Abuja, said that poor quality inputs was a major challenge in the yam sector.
Aighewi said another challenge was inadequate rural infrastructure to facilitate transportation of yam.
“Yam is bulky and perishable hence, high level of losses,” she said.
Aighewi said that high cost and low supply of quality yam was a major constraint in yam production.
She called on the government to support the yam value chain with financial assistance for the yam market.
