$12 Million Project to Boost Yam Productivity in Ghana, Nigeria

IBADAN, NIGERIA – The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and partners announced a new initiative that will dramatically boost yam productivity and double the incomes of three million yam farmers in West Africa.

The Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa project, which is supported by a $12 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will be led by IITA in collaboration with the governments of Ghana and Nigeria, the UK’s Natural Resources Institute (NRI), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).

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The project will increase yields through better seed tuber supply and improving markets for the tuber, of which 48.1 million tons are produced annually across 4.4 million hectares of land in West Africa’s “Yam Belt” – which extends from Cote D’Ivoire to Nigeria, representing over 90% of the global production.

Yams provide the most important source of dietary calories in Nigeria and Ghana, and rank above meat as a source of protein for many in the region. But production of the crop is hurt by fungal diseases, such as anthracnose that literally turns a field black, along with the yam beetle, nematodes, plant viruses, declining soil fertility and stresses caused by climate change. Post-harvest diseases such as tuber rot can claim up to 40% of a crop.

According to IITA’s Director General Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, yam prices have been rising in recent years on high demand for the crop in Africa, as well as Europe and the US.

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“Yams are deeply tied to the lives, livelihoods and cultures in West Africa and among Africans in diasporas, yet their fate hangs in the balance as a variety of pests and diseases have now depressed yields to a mere 14% of potential harvests,” IITA said in a statement. Yam scientists at IITA and the national researchers are developing new yam varieties that can address these challenges.

The project aims to ensure that affordable pest- and disease-free seed yams are available to farmers, along with storage and handling technologies that can reduce post-harvest loss. Yam breeders will develop and disseminate new, higher-yielding, disease-resistant varieties, IITA says. Private sector partners are expected to provide certified seed and work closely with efforts to link smallholder farmers to markets.

IITA scientists and the National Agricultural Research Systems partners are developing new, high-yielding, disease- and pest-resistant yam varieties. IITA says it has developed new varieties that yield 50% to 100% more than existing varieties. Among these, 19 were officially released in Nigeria and are yet to be massively multiplied for distribution to growers.

Export opportunities also exist. Nigeria, for example, exported $27.7 million worth of yams to the US in 2011.

Source: IITA; edited by Jaclyn Sindrich, Managing Editor

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