Yam growers lament exclusion from FG’s export drive

Alhaji Shuaibu Idris, President of Yam Growers Association of Nigeria (YAGAN), has cried out over the non-inclusion of YAGAN members in the highly publicised yam export drive by the Federal Government.


Idris who was speaking to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja said the government’s failure to carry YAGAN along in its yam export initiative is regrettable.

According to him, “We are the growers and the producers, we know where it pinches and what to do to fill the gaps; everything is not about research alone, we should be considered relevant to the project,’’ he said.

Idris noted that the Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme (TCNYEP), in its assignment, liaised with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) and other relevant stakeholders.

He then wondered why the committee failed to obtain the input of YAGAN in working out a framework.

He described the yam export drive as a laudable policy which should be embraced as the yam exportation would boost the country’s economy.

“YAGAN is not against the government’s policy but since we are the yam producers; it is, therefore, not out of place for the government to call us for discussions on the processes of yam production and exports.

“Nigerian farmers are ageing, they are not strong enough to feed the nation; what they produce now is in small quantity, which is not enough to facilitate the development of commercial agriculture in the country and sustain produce exports.’’


He called on the government to provide the necessary incentives to attract more young men and women into agriculture, saying that farming should be considered as a means of livelihood.

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