A total of 72 metric tons of yam will leave the shores of Nigeria to Europe and the United States next week, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has disclosed. The minister made the disclosure at the end of the meeting with the technical committee on Nigerian Yam Export Programme in his office in Abuja on Thursday.

The flag-off of what promises to be the dawn of a new era in raw food exportation from Nigeria will be done at the Apapa Port on Thursday (June 29, 2017). Of the 72 metric tons to be exported in three containers at 24 metric tons each, one container will be exported to the United Kingdom while two others will go to the United States.

“To make yam competitive, we will work on the packages and the right types of trucks to be used for transportation of the produce. “Oil and gas cannot employ millions of people just like agriculture so, we must work hard to move from oil to earning foreign exchange from agriculture,’’ he said.