Emmanuel Akatu in his yam ban in Agyaragu, Nasarawa state
Two days ago, the federal government led by Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, and top government functionaries, officially flagged-off Nigeria yam export to Europe and America.
Seventy two (72) metric tonnes of yam left for Europe and America during the flag-off ceremony at the Lagos Apapa sea port.
Earlier in February this year, Nigeria had sent two containers of yams to the export market. One of the containers arrived New York on June 16th according to Chief Audu Ogbeh.
This is exciting news for yam farmers in the country although this is long overdue in view of the fact that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer with 37 million metric tonnes annually.
Ghana, which produces less than what Niger State alone produces, controls the global yam export market because of the standard in packaging and quality control.
The West African neighbour targets $5 billion yam export market share in the next two years.
Dr Olukayo Oyeleye, the special assistant on media to the minister of Agriculture, said the flag-off “signals a new dawn in Nigeria’s food exports, with a consignment of 72 metric tonnes of yam leaving the shores of Nigeria to Europe and the US, essentially setting the stage for the country’s return to the global yam value chain as a dominant player in the world market.”
The special assistant noted that “Ghana, by contrast, as the third largest producer in West Africa after Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, produces 11.2 per cent the world total, but accounts for over 94 per cent of total yam exports in West Africa.
“As a leading exporter of the crop, Ghana’s yam export trade employs over one million in workforce. The export volumes for 2014 stood at US$18.8 million, while 2013 export figure was about US$20million amidst increases in demand for the commodity in both fresh and processed forms in new markets, both overseas and local. Ghana’s ambition, meanwhile, from its National Yam Development Strategy of October 2013, aims at US$5billion of exports by the fifth year - that is 2018,” he said.
Some Nigerians like Professor Simon Irtwange who chaired the committee on Nigerian Yam Export Programme observed that more than half of the yams exported from Ghana are actually Nigerian yams because Ghanaian products have global acceptability as a result of the country’s ability to put all their export regulatory agencies in one place to ensure standard for what goes out.
Irtwange said a lot of background work has already been done, adding that Nigeria will begin to have larger share of the global yam market.
West Africa produces about 48 million metric tonnes of yam annually on 4 million hectares of land. Nigeria alone produces about 37 million tonnes on 3 million hectares of land annually accounting for 61.7% of global production being the world’s largest producer.
Chief Audu Ogbeh while inaugurating the committee on the Nigerian Export Yam Programme, earlier in February, said the country will not fold it hands and watch other countries that do not produce a quarter of global yam dominate the market.
“Unfortunately, we are not among the yam exporters. Ghana seems to control the African export market. I’m not sure they produce as much yams as either Niger, Benue, Ebonyi or Ekiti states,” he stressed.
Ogbeh also said the Chinese are asking for dry yam, adding “I wonder why they wanted it dried. The Chinese are very clever, they said 40% of yam is water and they don’t want the water, they want the yams. So if we have to ship yam to China, we have to find a way of drying it.”
Dr. Vincent Isegbe, Coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) - an agency that has the responsibility to ensure quality of the export produce, has advised farmers who want to export their yam to meet the agency for technical assistance to enable them meet the necessary conditions of exporting countries.
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“We are the one to do the certification of the yam once it is produced, and we do what is called backward integration to let the farmers know that if your commodity is intended for export to a particular country, this is their requirements.”
Dr Isegbe spelt out the conditions to include: “the yam should be of uniform size, it should not have a growth on the head, it will be cut and waxed with candle to prevent infection, the yam should not have any nematode infestation, the yam should be of uniform specie, put in the carton in a particular way, it should be properly labeled and weighed, and if it is going to a particular country, the import condition for that yam will be stated, if it is going to be fumigated, the chemical for fumigation will be stated, so we will comply with the request of the importing country to ensure that those things are put in place.”
The coordinating director added that they painstakingly inspect each tuber of yam to ensure that they meet those requirements before certifying them and issuing the photo-sanitary certification for the export.
“As the farmers are preparing their farms, we want to know where the farms are located. We want to be able to trace each tuber to the farm so that if it has any issue in the importing country and they inform us, we will be able to trace the yam to the farmer and the farm,” he stated.
Reacting to the development in the yam value chain, Arch Kabiru Ibrahim, National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, commended the federal government on the gesture, adding that it is a good window for Nigeria farmers.
“Government has done well by creating the market for yam farmers in Nigeria. It is a welcome development and a good window that all farmers should take advantage of,” he said.
Source: dailytrust
Seventy two (72) metric tonnes of yam left for Europe and America during the flag-off ceremony at the Lagos Apapa sea port.
Earlier in February this year, Nigeria had sent two containers of yams to the export market. One of the containers arrived New York on June 16th according to Chief Audu Ogbeh.
This is exciting news for yam farmers in the country although this is long overdue in view of the fact that Nigeria is the world’s largest producer with 37 million metric tonnes annually.
Ghana, which produces less than what Niger State alone produces, controls the global yam export market because of the standard in packaging and quality control.
The West African neighbour targets $5 billion yam export market share in the next two years.
Dr Olukayo Oyeleye, the special assistant on media to the minister of Agriculture, said the flag-off “signals a new dawn in Nigeria’s food exports, with a consignment of 72 metric tonnes of yam leaving the shores of Nigeria to Europe and the US, essentially setting the stage for the country’s return to the global yam value chain as a dominant player in the world market.”
The special assistant noted that “Ghana, by contrast, as the third largest producer in West Africa after Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, produces 11.2 per cent the world total, but accounts for over 94 per cent of total yam exports in West Africa.
“As a leading exporter of the crop, Ghana’s yam export trade employs over one million in workforce. The export volumes for 2014 stood at US$18.8 million, while 2013 export figure was about US$20million amidst increases in demand for the commodity in both fresh and processed forms in new markets, both overseas and local. Ghana’s ambition, meanwhile, from its National Yam Development Strategy of October 2013, aims at US$5billion of exports by the fifth year - that is 2018,” he said.
Some Nigerians like Professor Simon Irtwange who chaired the committee on Nigerian Yam Export Programme observed that more than half of the yams exported from Ghana are actually Nigerian yams because Ghanaian products have global acceptability as a result of the country’s ability to put all their export regulatory agencies in one place to ensure standard for what goes out.
Irtwange said a lot of background work has already been done, adding that Nigeria will begin to have larger share of the global yam market.
West Africa produces about 48 million metric tonnes of yam annually on 4 million hectares of land. Nigeria alone produces about 37 million tonnes on 3 million hectares of land annually accounting for 61.7% of global production being the world’s largest producer.
Chief Audu Ogbeh while inaugurating the committee on the Nigerian Export Yam Programme, earlier in February, said the country will not fold it hands and watch other countries that do not produce a quarter of global yam dominate the market.
“Unfortunately, we are not among the yam exporters. Ghana seems to control the African export market. I’m not sure they produce as much yams as either Niger, Benue, Ebonyi or Ekiti states,” he stressed.
Ogbeh also said the Chinese are asking for dry yam, adding “I wonder why they wanted it dried. The Chinese are very clever, they said 40% of yam is water and they don’t want the water, they want the yams. So if we have to ship yam to China, we have to find a way of drying it.”
Dr. Vincent Isegbe, Coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS) - an agency that has the responsibility to ensure quality of the export produce, has advised farmers who want to export their yam to meet the agency for technical assistance to enable them meet the necessary conditions of exporting countries.
\\\
“We are the one to do the certification of the yam once it is produced, and we do what is called backward integration to let the farmers know that if your commodity is intended for export to a particular country, this is their requirements.”
Dr Isegbe spelt out the conditions to include: “the yam should be of uniform size, it should not have a growth on the head, it will be cut and waxed with candle to prevent infection, the yam should not have any nematode infestation, the yam should be of uniform specie, put in the carton in a particular way, it should be properly labeled and weighed, and if it is going to a particular country, the import condition for that yam will be stated, if it is going to be fumigated, the chemical for fumigation will be stated, so we will comply with the request of the importing country to ensure that those things are put in place.”
The coordinating director added that they painstakingly inspect each tuber of yam to ensure that they meet those requirements before certifying them and issuing the photo-sanitary certification for the export.
“As the farmers are preparing their farms, we want to know where the farms are located. We want to be able to trace each tuber to the farm so that if it has any issue in the importing country and they inform us, we will be able to trace the yam to the farmer and the farm,” he stated.
Reacting to the development in the yam value chain, Arch Kabiru Ibrahim, National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, commended the federal government on the gesture, adding that it is a good window for Nigeria farmers.
“Government has done well by creating the market for yam farmers in Nigeria. It is a welcome development and a good window that all farmers should take advantage of,” he said.
Source: dailytrust
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