Tom Okpe, Abuja
The exporters of Nigeria yam to the United Kingdom and United States of America have disagreed with the reports that the country’s produce exported were rejected at their destinations.
The Africa Independent Television (AIT) had earlier reported that the Nigeria yams exported to UK and the US after the official flag off ceremony on June 29th, 2017 by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe were rejected at their export destinations thereby bringing to ridicule both the Ministry of Agriculture and the country at large.
In a chat with the stakeholders, the exporters revealed to Daily times that the Minister’s actions meant to boost the morale of Nigerian exporters and make a bold statement to the global marketplace, but has drawn widespread criticisms on various media platforms based on the ‘misleading reports’.
The concerned exporters and other prospective exporters have expressed worries about the potential impact of the negative publicity on their prospects at the export market in the wake of federal government’s initiative on diversification of the economy through agricultural produce export.
”Our consignments were successfully cleared at the ports and delivered to their various warehouses; although some cases of tuber spoilage were reported in both cases, these were separated from the good ones, and the good ones were distributed to the buyers”.
They noted that Ghana, which has been exporting yams for a while, routinely records cases of spoilage, without making any public issues; and their yams don’t get rejected as a result.
Mr. Michael Adedipe of ADES UK Foods and Drinks who was the exporter to the United Kingdom and whose warehouse was visited by AIT , has deplored the AIT report and other subsequent commentaries about rejection of his yams by the UK authorities saying, “the consignment was not rejected; It was cleared”.
According to Adedipe, who confirmed that he spoke to AIT: “I’ve watched the Television program which lasted for about two hours. We that decided to venture into this project are aware of the risks involved because, this fresh produce, we will expect five or 10 per cent damages. I don’t know why they said the product got rejected. I’ve sent my release note. I’ve sent video of loading. I’ve sent every documentation to say that there is no issue like that at all”.
On the spoilage of yam, he said: “The failure has nothing to do with the Ministry of agriculture, but the Nigerian Ports Authority. That’s where I see the failure”. He expressed disgust at the mishandling of his comments by the AIT reporter adding, “I told him (Reporter), he is aware of it. He knew about the delay, I told him about all the consignment. He knew every single thing that happened. But what he did was to use the negative side of what i told him; we talked about other things. I told him how I came into the UK to fix our problem. All those were removed from the report”, he said.
Adedipe, who has vowed not to stop yam export business, disclosed that the other mistake was the shipping line we used. “They were the ones available, in spite of the sour experience with media report, I am willing to invest. I still expect to take a container from Nigeria every week”.
On his part, the Managing Director, Wan Nyikwagh Farms Nigeria Limited, Mr Yandev Amaabai, the exporter to the United States of America equally disputed the yam rejection story. He said: “The story from AIT was focused on UK. So far, I am the only person who has lifted yam to the United States. Whatever we can do to clarify this issue will be good. We learn as we progress. The whole idea that government brought was to diversify the economy”.
My goods actually got to the US on September 7, 2017. The ship berthed on September 2, 2017, but, because of the flooding in Texas, we couldn’t discharge until the 7th. They were cleared from the Customs and brought to the warehouse on the 7th. Yams are perishable items and, definitely, some may go bad on the way. But, this statement that says the American government rejected Nigerian yams, where does it come from”, he queried.
“Our yams were released to us and we took them to the stores. We sorted them out and distributed them to the off-takers. So, where they got this story from, I don’t know. Nobody has called me from any part of the US to ask me question. If a few yams got rotten, and I am not complaining, why are people crying more than the owner? I have all the papers. The Customs cleared my goods on the other side. And these things went to my warehouse from where we did our distribution.
“If Ghana, which produces 4.8 million tonnes of yams, according to 2008 estimates, occupies a niche as the leading exporter of crop, accounting for over 94 per cent of total yam exports in West Africa, Nigeria which is by far the world’s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70 to 76 per cent of the world production, producing 35.017 million metric tonnes valued equivalent of US$5.654 billion by the 2008 estimates should do better than Ghana in the export market.
“Ghana is the first country in West Africa to launch its national yam development strategy in 2013. The country aims at $5 billion dollars of exports by 2018. Nigeria, which produces seven times Ghana’s production volume, is beset with criticisms over attempts to bring it to the global yam markets. About 90 per cent of Ghana’s yams are exported to the US, Canada, UK and elsewhere in Europe. There are more Nigerians than Ghanaians in these countries, meaning more prospects for Nigerian exporters.
“Chief Ogbeh has said that Nigeria, the largest producer of yam in the world, is not anywhere near the capacity to export and remains so much a nation of consumers. He stressed that ‘Nigeria must export’ as the country’s economy is increasing, and in ten years’ time, oil and gas is going to drop. Then we may have nothing to earn foreign exchange except we begin to diversify our export base now”.
The Minister expressed surprise at the negative news trailing his laudable effort at putting Nigeria on the global yam export market.
He said: We are not going to stop because this is not enough to demoralize us. We have food to export. Never mind what so-called critics are saying.
“We are not exporters. The ministry does not export. We’re going to talk to the Ports Authority on cooling vans for vegetables and fresh produce so that exporters don’t lose money and we don’t lose face. We should begin to build cold trucks that are temperature-controlled to keep the yams till the time they have to go. We should invest in special containers for their storage.
“If other countries are doing it, we too can do it. We’re trying to take over the market. We’ve come to nearly 70 per cent of raw output of yams. Why can’t Nigerians in Texas, Canada, London and Germany have access to yams; we will go ahead with our efforts to export yam. We will not let this opportunity slip any further. We are determined to position our people to capture the investment opportunities and benefits in the yam export to these countries. We will fix the yam export value chain. We have the volume and the market.
“We will emphasize global best practices, engage with world class experts and international organisations as well as leverage the strength in indigenous knowledge. We will support investment in relevant infrastructure and facilities. We will revive the abandoned yam conditioning centers in Ekiti and Nassarawa states while we encourage the construction of new ones with appropriate equipment to boost storage and export prospects”.
Chief Ogbe appeal to Nigerians in the spirit of patriotism, to see the silver lining around the cloud of the week of misinformation about yam export adding: “We have commenced engagement with the National Assembly for the repeal of the 1989 law that prohibits the export of yams and other aggro-commodities. Currently, the bill has passed the second reading at the national assembly.
The continued existence of this law is an obstruction against the economic diversification and export initiative of this administration. We plead with the National Assembly to fast-track the repeal of the law and help us further unlock our export potential”.
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