The Ghana Yam Producers and Exporters Organization has been working with the Dutch company CBI to strengthen the production and export of the Ghanaian yam sector. The current 40 active members now benefit from the GlobalGAP certificate, which allows for more export opportunities in the world market.
“CBI has helped us in several ways,” says Theophilus Hayford of the Ghana Yam Producers and Exporters Organisation. “About five years ago, CBI started an export coaching program. Our organisation was one of the 20 companies that entered this program. CBI sponsored 80% for our application for the GlobalGAP certificate. They also let us attend Fruit Logistica in Berlin for three consecutive years. CBI also provided courses both in Ghana and in The Hague on cultivation methods and export marketing,” says Hayford.
The efforts of CBI allowed Ghanaian yams to find their way to new markets. Exposure through events like Fruit Logistica gave companies like the Ghana Yam Producers and Exporters Organization a way to stand out among the competition. “Due to the new markets, we’ve managed to increase our export volume by 50% when compared to last year. We intend to increase it up to 100% by the end of this season,” explains Hayford.
The main markets for Ghanaian yams are the US, the UK and the Netherlands. Hayford prefers the Dutch market, as it has less competition than the UK. “The Dutch market is a very regular market, with stable prices. We’ve started with the UK market last year, but we notice that, due to the competition, the prices tend to be unstable. Right now, there are UK companies that travel to the Netherlands in order to buy our special branded boxes of yams.”
The main yam varieties of Ghana are white yams and Puna. Puna yams are of especial importance, as these are exclusively grown in Ghana and are of superior quality to white yams. “They’re very sweet and quite popular. The puna yams give our country a competitive edge with regards to other producing countries like Nigeria. Nigerian buyers even go so far as to import our puna yams in order to re-export them to other countries,” added Hayford.
The season for puna yams runs from the middle of July all the way up to May. The white yam season starts around September or October and ends a month after the puna season in June. As the season goes on, the shelf life of the yams diminishes. According to Hayford, the export of puna yams becomes problematic in May, as large parts of the export volume end up spoilt during the transit times. “It takes six weeks for yams to reach the US market. In may, it would mean about 25% of the yams ends up spoilt on arrival.”
The risk of spoilage is a symptom of a larger problem that plagues the Ghanaian yam sector. Ghanaian growers and exporters lack access to modern facilities, such as cold storage or packing facilities. “Most yam growers in Ghana run their farms in a very traditional way, with very crude tools and outdated methods. We lack the financial means to properly modernize our production,” explains Hayford.
The government of Ghana is squarely focused on the support of its lucrative cocoa sector, but isn’t as invested in its yam production. According to Hayford, the solution for more development lies with foreign investors.
“Through CBI, we’re frantically searching for potential investors. We currently lack our own packing facility, which means we need to rent the facilities of competing organisations. Those facilities are expensive and always congested, so we really need our own. For this, we need cooperation with foreign parties,” says Hayford.
For more information:“CBI has helped us in several ways,” says Theophilus Hayford of the Ghana Yam Producers and Exporters Organisation. “About five years ago, CBI started an export coaching program. Our organisation was one of the 20 companies that entered this program. CBI sponsored 80% for our application for the GlobalGAP certificate. They also let us attend Fruit Logistica in Berlin for three consecutive years. CBI also provided courses both in Ghana and in The Hague on cultivation methods and export marketing,” says Hayford.
The efforts of CBI allowed Ghanaian yams to find their way to new markets. Exposure through events like Fruit Logistica gave companies like the Ghana Yam Producers and Exporters Organization a way to stand out among the competition. “Due to the new markets, we’ve managed to increase our export volume by 50% when compared to last year. We intend to increase it up to 100% by the end of this season,” explains Hayford.
The main markets for Ghanaian yams are the US, the UK and the Netherlands. Hayford prefers the Dutch market, as it has less competition than the UK. “The Dutch market is a very regular market, with stable prices. We’ve started with the UK market last year, but we notice that, due to the competition, the prices tend to be unstable. Right now, there are UK companies that travel to the Netherlands in order to buy our special branded boxes of yams.”
The main yam varieties of Ghana are white yams and Puna. Puna yams are of especial importance, as these are exclusively grown in Ghana and are of superior quality to white yams. “They’re very sweet and quite popular. The puna yams give our country a competitive edge with regards to other producing countries like Nigeria. Nigerian buyers even go so far as to import our puna yams in order to re-export them to other countries,” added Hayford.
The season for puna yams runs from the middle of July all the way up to May. The white yam season starts around September or October and ends a month after the puna season in June. As the season goes on, the shelf life of the yams diminishes. According to Hayford, the export of puna yams becomes problematic in May, as large parts of the export volume end up spoilt during the transit times. “It takes six weeks for yams to reach the US market. In may, it would mean about 25% of the yams ends up spoilt on arrival.”
The risk of spoilage is a symptom of a larger problem that plagues the Ghanaian yam sector. Ghanaian growers and exporters lack access to modern facilities, such as cold storage or packing facilities. “Most yam growers in Ghana run their farms in a very traditional way, with very crude tools and outdated methods. We lack the financial means to properly modernize our production,” explains Hayford.
The government of Ghana is squarely focused on the support of its lucrative cocoa sector, but isn’t as invested in its yam production. According to Hayford, the solution for more development lies with foreign investors.
“Through CBI, we’re frantically searching for potential investors. We currently lack our own packing facility, which means we need to rent the facilities of competing organisations. Those facilities are expensive and always congested, so we really need our own. For this, we need cooperation with foreign parties,” says Hayford.
Theophilus Hayford
Tel: 00 233-20-659-8204
Email: info@ghanayam.com
www.ghanayam.com