By Thompson ABISOLA
Prof. Simon Irtwange, President, Yam Farmers, Marketers and Processors Association of Nigeria (YFMPAN), said on Wednesday that the association was targeting 5,750 tons of the commodity for export in 2019.
Irtwange gave the figure in Lagos.
According to him, the association is working on the issues that prevented it from achieving the target it set for itself in 2018.
“We are hoping that the facilitator of the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) will bring back yams’ production to its priority list.
“We hope also to strike a good deal with the airlines and DHL, to use their cargo planes to export the product.
“We are also working to ensure that the Ikorodu Terminal becomes a one-stop-shop and a hub for agricultural-produce export in the country,” he said.
The association’s president said that from the Ikorodu Terminal, the produce could be ferried into the ships, thus avoiding the gridlock on the roads.
According to him, shipping of most agricultural produce, especially yams, requires urgency because of their perishable nature.
The professor said that the heavy gridlock on the roads delayed the movement of agricultural produce to the ports for shipment in the past years.
He also said that the association, in conjunction with yam stakeholders, would increase its advocacy on the need to amend the Export Promotion Act.
He noted that the association would also ensure that ABP loans to yam farmers did not come with harsh conditions.
He said that would enable them to cultivate the produce without any hitch.
Irtwange said that the value of yam production was higher than that of cassava, millet and sorghum that were being given much attention.
The professor said that the association would be leveraging on what the company, already on ground at the Ikorodu terminal, had to offer.
