Chinese yam may soon be in our kitchen - Perm Sec raise concerns

The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Ernest Umakihe, has raised concerns over the failure of Nigeria to engage in the exportation of yam.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s workshop on repositioning yam as an export crop, with the theme, “Prospects and Challenges of yam export in Nigeria”, Umakihe suspects Nigerians may soon begin to import yam from China for local consumption.

According to him, Nigeria is not among the countries who export yam to other countries despite accounting for 67 percent of global yam output.

He lamented that China may soon be on the vedge of exporting yam, since Nigerians appreciate imported goods, and this may cost many citizens employment and also reduce the income of yam farmers.

Umakihe was of the view that Nigeria’s first attempt at exporting yam was by Nasarawa State Government in 2009 with 8.5 metric tonnes and within the same month another 66 metric tonnes were exported in two shipments, followed by Oyo State, but had no success. He also said that the Ministry’s attempt to revive yam export in 2017 was poorly handled.

“It was only in 2017 that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture under the leadership of Chief Audu Ogbeh, then Minister, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organised the first flag-off ceremony (of yam) with a batch of 72 tons to UK and USA. I believe these were done without proper planning before the execution. Aside from the mentioned attempts, nothing much has been heard of the yam export from Nigeria,” he said.

He called for a review into the unsuccessful yam exportation of Nigeria.