…As Yam export Committee plans export of 480 tonnes monthly in 2018***
Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria has assured Nigerians of increased yam production in 2018 so as to boost the yam export initiative of the Federal Government.
The Acting President of the association, Prof Simon Irtwange, gave the assurance in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
He said that farmers had been mobilised to increase their production in order to make provision for the local consumption and export requirements.
Irtwange, who is also the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme, said that efforts were made to build the capacity of yam aggregators to buy exportable yams in large quantities from farmers after harvests.
He said that yam exporters, instead of going to markets to buy yams, could procure the yams from the aggregators who already knew the standards for exportable yams.
He said that the committee was partnering with the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, for the production of seedlings of exportable yams so as to boost the production of the yams and encourage farmers.
“I will not agree that export has anything to do with the local production because not every yam variety can be exported.
“The ones that are exportable are the ones that meet export standards. The export requirements include 2kg. yams that are slender and smooth, while the non-export yams are purely for local consumption.
“We have also encouraged yam production; this year, we would have more output than what we had in the previous year because farmers are now sensitised and they have gone into massive production. So, there will be enough yams for the local market and export.
“We have already selected the yam varieties we want to promote for export but the seedlings for those varieties are the major challenge right now.
“So we have gone into partnership with Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. They will produce the seedlings for us and IITA is also involved in the project.
“After production, we have aggregators who will off-take the yams from the farmers and will aggregate for the exporters,’’ he said.
Irtwange, who noted that over 20 per cent of exportable yams often rotted away because of poor preservation techniques, said that aggregators would have cooling systems for the produce.
“Concerning the aggregators, what we require from them is that they will have warehouses, they will have cooling systems and they will store the yams under the correct temperature.
“Through that way, we can also give assurance of the quality of what we are exporting.
“The assurance is that we have done the trials, we have learnt from our mistakes and we have put in place measures to correct all the drawbacks.
“The essence of the trials is to see where there are challenges, so that we can see how to solve the problems.
“Now, we have known what the challenges are and we are going to face them squarely.
“We have all learnt our lessons and we think that this year, the yam export programme is going to be better than what it was last year,’’ he added.
In the meantime, the Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme says it is targeting the export of about 480 tonnes of yams, equivalent to 20 containers, every month in 2018.
Prof. Simon Irtwange, the Chairman of the committee, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday that the target would be achieved if all the challenges, which yam exporters experienced in 2017, were surmounted.
Irtwange said that the U.S. had made a request for the supply of five containers monthly, which amounted to 120 tonnes of yams.
“If everything works out well, the U.S. authorities say they will need about five containers every month and one container contains 24 tonnes of yams.
“We are trying to aggregate the demand from other countries; so by the time we put everything together, we should be thinking of exporting about 20 containers of yams on a monthly basis.
“When you multiply 20 by 24, the total is 480 tonnes of yams.
“We have a work plan and we have a lot of activities that we have already pencilled down.
“We are working with relevant government agencies to provide the necessary support for the programme,’’ he said.
Irtwange said that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had made available the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal to facilitate the packaging and movement of yams meant for export.
He said that the committee was also working with the NPA to get people who would invest in constructing yam pack houses at the terminal.
“The NPA has already given us the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, where we can bring our yams and do all the packaging before moving them down to the ports.
“That way, we will avoid the gridlock in Apapa because now, we are using batches to move the yams from Ikorodu to Apapa,’’ he added.
On the challenges which yam exporters encountered in 2017, Irtwange said that the committee had forwarded a report to the Federal Government on possible ways of tackling the perceptible hitches.
“On the issue of transportation, we need cold trucks; we also need yam conditioning centres.
“Presently, there is only one conditioning centre owned by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council in Zaki-Ibiam, Benue State, but that is not enough, we need more.
“On the issues of packaging and production of cartons for the yams, we are also hoping to have local investors.
“Right now, there are only two companies that can do this for us — an Indian company in Ibadan and a Chinese company in Lagos — and the problem is that in most cases, they don’t take orders for little quantities of cartons for production.
“A container will take about 1,200 cartons and when you go to the companies for the production of 1,200 cartons, they will say it is too small.
“We are also thinking that if there are people that can produce the cartons in small quantities, things will be okay. We want to get those who can produce small quantities of cartons for sale to yam exporters,’’ he added.
