Nigeria has formally started exporting yam to the European Market according to its Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh.
As part of the moves he revealed Nigeria is targeting to export 72 tonnes of yam to the United Kingdom in the first phase.
Statistics from the Food and Agricultural Organization of Nigeria revealed that the country accounts for 61% of the total yam output in the world, but the tuber has not been exported.
Mr Ogbeh pointed out that Ghana which is currently the largest exporter of yam is expected to earn $4bn from its yam exports in the next three to four years.
The agriculture minister said that as the diversification drive continued solar coolers would used to store the yam crop throughout the year.
However he feared that yam production would be hampered by many youth going to urban areas instead of farming in rural areas.
Nigeria’s highly dependence on traditional planting resulted in Ghana overtaking the country to become Africa’s leading country in yam exportation in 2015.
Source: Africafeeds.com / Fred Dzakpata
