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Tag: Simon Irtwange

  • Yam export committee develops 4-year action plan, targets $10bn annually

    Prof. Simon Irtwange, the National Coordinator, Technical Committee on Nigerian Yam Export Programme, said the committee has developed a four-year action plan targeting $10 billion earnings from yam export.

    Irtwange made the disclosure in Lagos on Thursday in an interview with Our reporter.

    According to him, the 2017 – 2020 plan will bring improvement and development in all aspects of yam value chain.

    ‘‘Indeed, the government policy on yam export has come to stay; the only action now is how to improve on the process.

    ‘‘The committee has developed Action/Work Plan (2017 – 2020) going forward.

    ‘‘The plan objective is to create an estimated one million jobs and earnings of at least 10 billion dollars annually in the next four years.

    ‘‘The total cost required to operate the plan is N3.13 billion,’’ he said.

    The coordinator said the committee had also developed a blueprint for the development of Yam Value Chain Production, Processing, Marketing and Exportation.

    He said the committee had also selected some white yam varieties for export promotion.

    Irtwange said among the white yams selected were Ogoja, Hembamkwase, Awula, Pepe, Faketsa, Puna and Water Yam (Cush-Cush) out of the more than 60 varieties.

    He said the committee is reviewing the NIS 657:2009 Standard for fresh yam tubers and NIS 000:2007 MT Specifications for yam pounding machine.

    He added that the committee is also working to overcome the challenges encountered with the first shipment in June 2017.

  • Yam farmers assure Nigerians of increased production, price increases

    Yam farmers assure Nigerians of increased production, price increases

    Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria has assured Nigerians of increased yam production in 2018 so as to boost the yam export initiative of the Federal Government.

    The Acting President of the association, Prof Simon Irtwange, gave the assurance in an interview in Abuja on Monday.

    He said farmers had been mobilised to increase their production in order to make provision for the local consumption and export requirements.

    Irtwange, who is also the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme, said efforts were made to build the capacity of yam aggregators to buy exportable yams in large quantities from farmers after harvests.

    He said yam exporters, instead of going to markets to buy yams, could procure the yams from the aggregators who already knew the standards for exportable yams.

    He said the committee was partnering with the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, for the production of seedlings of exportable yams so as to boost the production of the yams and encourage farmers.

    “I will not agree that export has anything to do with the local production because not every yam variety can be exported.

    “The ones that are exportable are the ones that meet export standards. The export requirements include 2kg. yams that are slender and smooth, while the non-export yams are purely for local consumption.

    Read also: Yam export: Committee plans export of 480 tonnes monthly

    “We have also encouraged yam production; this year, we would have more output than what we had in the previous year because farmers are now sensitised and they have gone into massive production. So, there will be enough yams for the local market and export.

    “We have already selected the yam varieties we want to promote for export but the seedlings for those varieties are the major challenge right now.

    “So we have gone into partnership with Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. They will produce the seedlings for us and IITA is also involved in the project.

    “After production, we have aggregators who will off-take the yams from the farmers and will aggregate for the exporters,’’ he said.

    Irtwange, who noted that over 20 per cent of exportable yams often rotted away because of poor preservation techniques, said that aggregators would have cooling systems for the produce.

    “Concerning the aggregators, what we require from them is that they will have warehouses, they will have cooling systems and they will store the yams under the correct temperature.

    “Through that way, we can also give assurance of the quality of what we are exporting.

    “The assurance is that we have done the trials, we have learnt from our mistakes and we have put in place measures to correct all the drawbacks.

    “The essence of the trials is to see where there are challenges, so that we can see how to solve the problems.

    “Now, we have known what the challenges are and we are going to face them squarely.

    “We have all learnt our lessons and we think that this year, the yam export programme is going to be better than what it was last year,’’ he added.

    NAN

  • Yam export: Committee plans export of 480 tonnes monthly

    Yam export: Committee plans export of 480 tonnes monthly

     The Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme says it is targeting the export of about 480 tonnes of yams, equivalent to 20 containers, every month in 2018.

    Prof. Simon Irtwange, the Chairman of the committee, said in Abuja on Monday that the target would be achieved if all the challenges, which yam exporters experienced in 2017, were surmounted.

    Irtwange said the U.S. had made a request for the supply of five containers monthly, which amounted to 120 tonnes of yams.

    “If everything works out well, the U.S. authorities say they will need about five containers every month and one container contains 24 tonnes of yams.

    “We are trying to aggregate the demand from other countries; so by the time we put everything together, we should be thinking of exporting about 20 containers of yams on a monthly basis.

    “When you multiply 20 by 24, the total is 480 tonnes of yams.

    “We have a work plan and we have a lot of activities that we have already pencilled down.

    “We are working with relevant government agencies to provide the necessary support for the programme,’’ he said.

    Irtwange said the Nigerian Ports Authority ( NPA ) had made available the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal to facilitate the packaging and movement of yams meant for export.

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    He said the committee was also working with the NPA to get people who would invest in constructing yam pack houses at the terminal.

    “The NPA has already given us the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, where we can bring our yams and do all the packaging before moving them down to the ports.

    “That way, we will avoid the gridlock in Apapa because now, we are using batches to move the yams from Ikorodu to Apapa,’’ he added.

    On the challenges which yam exporters encountered in 2017, Irtwange said the committee had forwarded a report to the Federal Government on possible ways of tackling the perceptible hitches.

    “On the issue of transportation, we need cold trucks; we also need yam conditioning centres.

    “Presently, there is only one conditioning centre owned by the Nigeria Export Promotion Council in Zaki-Ibiam, Benue State, but that is not enough, we need more.

    “On the issues of packaging and production of cartons for the yams, we are also hoping to have local investors.

    “Right now, there are only two companies that can do this for us — an Indian company in Ibadan and a Chinese company in Lagos — and the problem is that in most cases, they don’t take orders for little quantities of cartons for production.

    “A container will take about 1,200 cartons and when you go to the companies for the production of 1,200 cartons, they will say it is too small.

    “We are also thinking that if there are people that can produce the cartons in small quantities, things will be okay. We want to get those who can produce small quantities of cartons for sale to yam exporters,’’ he added.

    NAN

  • Yam export: FG to train farmers on best agronomy practices

    Yam export: FG to train farmers on best agronomy practices

    The Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme, says it will train farmers on best agronomic practices for yam farming to avoid rejection of the produce at the international markets.

    Prof. Simon Irtwange, the Chairman of the committee, disclosed this plan in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

    The chairman said that poor agronomic practices during farming contributed to the rejection of the country’s produce at the international market, hence the need for the training.

    NAN recalls that the Federal Government had announced that the country would commence exportation of about 74 tonnes of yam to Europe and United States of America (USA) by June 29.

    Irtwange said the committee was partnering with the Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria to carry out the training.

    He noted that the training would help sensitise farmers on the use of pesticides as well as other requirements for the produce.

    According to him, we are also in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to provide improved yam seedlings to the farmers.

    “The committee is supposed to provide technical guidance for anybody who wants to go into yam export.

    “The exporter must be conversant with the standards for yam export and it the job of the committee to take exporters through the standards so that they will know what the requirements are.

    “The committee will also make sure that farmers under the Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, are trained on farming, processing and marketing.

    “IITA has told us that seedlings will be made available and we want to promote businesses around the yam seedlings value chain,’’ he said.

    Irtwange said that the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) had made its yam conditioning centre in Zaki Biam, Benue State, available to exporters for the cleaning, wrapping and packaging of the produce before export.

    “The first requirement for any intending yam exporter is to get your exporters registration certificate from the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, then you come to the technical committee and we show you what to do.

    “What we are trying to have is a Nigerian yam pack house in Lagos and all regulatory agencies will be there to certify the produce.

    “The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will be there to make sure that it is truly yams that are in the cartons, SON will be there to make sure that the yams are exportable varieties and conform to standard weighing about 2kg with a net weight of 20kg per carton.

    “The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) will also be there to make sure we do not export diseases to other countries.’’ the chairman said.

    NAN recalls that Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, inaugurated the committee in February to sensitise farmers and exporters on required international standards of yam before exportation.

    The committee which is private sector led, has representatives from the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) as its members.

    Other members of the committee include the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), NEPC, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), among others.