Before that yam export policy By Rose Moses So, I was at Iddo, a local open market popular for sale of food products, last weekend and the picture on prices of commodities at the market still remained quite depressing. If prices of foodstuff are beyond the reach of many Nigerians at Iddo, you can only imagine how bad things could be at the corner shops and markets near you. Iddo, attracts buyers from far and wide that come to purchase at wholesale price. So this particular weekend in Iddo, about a quarter of a basket of tomatoes sold for between N5,000–N6,000, if not more. Not too long ago, you could get same for between N2,500 to N3,000. Audu Ogbeh The alarming increase in prices, to some extent, also applied to fresh red pepper and onions. In the fish department, both stock, dried and crayfish, among others, had their prices almost doubled, and in some cases more than doubled, from what they were few months back. Prices of grains, including beans, rice, garri and any other product you may think of were just so exorbitant, such that a paint of honey beans that sold for N900 or thereabout less than a year ago, now goes for between N1, 800 to N2, 000, depending on your bargaining power. And yes, a medium-size tuber of yam at Iddo market last weekend, sold for N1, 500 and above. Now, that got me really thinking. How many Nigerians at this rate can afford to feed themselves and families well? Sadly, and in all of these, wages and income have remained same, if not down-sized, right sized or left-sized; all of which are jargons employed by employers to replace the clear term of cut in salaries or outright disengagement from work, oftentimes without settlement. And data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that millions will lose their jobs in the first nine months of 2017 as a result of harsh economic situation in the country. With this market trend and high cost of commodities in the midst of very harsh economic situation, what you get is near chronic case of hunger in the land. As it were, the United Nations already projected that at least, 5.1 million Nigerians in the Northeast region, may die from starvation this year, following serious food shortages and as a result of the conflict and risk of unexploded improvised devices that have prevented farmers from planting for a third year in a row. So, when against this backdrop, one reads that tonnes of yam, specifically, 72 tonnes, are being exported to the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA), one is in a fix as to whether to rejoice or feel sad with the development. Ordinarily, exportation of food items to Europe or America should be a welcome development. But there’s hardly any common or even economic sense doing so when your people are hungry. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, in selling the idea of the new policy on yam export, naturally looked at the foreign exchange that will accrue to the economy from the exercise. Nothing wrong with that. He also pointed export as one of the ways Nigeria can prevent food wastage, while lamenting the country’s poor preservation capacity. Good observation. But how is government planning to reduce cost of transportation, especially reduction in cost of fuel for farmers, upgrade of roads for easy transportation of their farm produce to the cities as well as provision of improved storage facilities? In other words, what the minister did not say is how government plans to cut waste in the supply chain that will ultimately lower prices so that ordinary Nigerians can afford this basic necessity of life taken for granted in those countries Nigeria plans to export our yams to. With the country yet to attain self-sufficiency, this yam export policy could just be counter-productive, if concrete efforts are not made to boost production and supply across the country, including production and supply of other major crops besides yam. No doubt, Nigeria remains the largest producer of yam in the world, accounting for over 70 per cent of the world production, but consumption level of her citizens is also high with some gaps yet to be filled. So, rather than rush to nicely package some tonnes of yam in some fancy cartons for export to Europe and America, government and its citizens need to first look for how to improve on integrated farming. This way, more yams can be produced, preserved for local consumption with surplus now exported. Experts have actually argued that 72 tonnes of yam, when processed to pharmaceutical grade starch (PGS), for instance, which is the major component of tablets and capsules, will yield about 9.7 tonnes of pure PGS. This, they say, goes for about $20-$40 per kg in the international market. If you do the Maths, and add to the employment opportunity the process will generate, locally, you will realize that yam export may not yet cut any financial sense in our present situation. The post Before that yam export policy appeared first on Vanguard News. from Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2uAMWWp via Naijapounds