Yam Vanishes from Nigerian Menus

In a surprising turn of events, yam, once a staple food in Nigeria, has become a luxury many families can no longer afford.

The root crop, previously associated with low-income households, has now become unattainable for even the wealthy due to its exorbitant price.

An investigation by our correspondent revealed that the high cost of yam has led to its disappearance from menus across the country. Visits to two markets in Owerri, Imo State's capital, showed that housewives have turned to alternatives like potato and rice to meet their families' carbohydrate needs, as yam has become an unaffordable option.

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Mrs Janet Okorie, who lives at the Aladinma Owerri told this reporter that she could no longer stand a situation where a small tuber of yam is selling for between N800 and N1000.

According to her, it is better to buy a half paint of rice at N4000 and purchase the ingredients/condiments than buy three small tubers of yam at N2400 when it cannot feed her family of seven once.

Mrs Catherine Nwosu, another housewife submitted that though prices of other foodstuffs are also on the high side, that of yam tubers is difficult to stomach.

Hear her, "On Tuesday, September 10, I went to the Eke-Ukwu Market Owerri to buy yam. If you see the tuber of yam I bought at N5000, it wasn't enough for me, my husband and three children to eat more than once."

As a result, Mrs Nwosu who resides with her family in the Ikenegbu Layout area of Owerri said she can no longer touch yam tubers even with a 10-metre pole.

Yam tubers are majorly grown in the Northern parts of Nigeria..

States like Benue, Plateau and Kebbi are major growers and suppliers of the root crop across the country.

But with banditry and terrorism of the Boko Haram hue tearing the North apart, farmers hardly go to their farms these days.

A yam seller at the Relief Market, Owerri, Mr. James Ononiwu disclosed that another major challenge being encountered by dealers is the high fares of moving foodstuffs from the the farms in the North to the markets in the South.

Ononiwu said; "A truckload of yam tubers before now was transported to us in the East from Benue State at N200,000. Now, for same truckload, we are paying between N400,000 to N500,000 on transportation alone. So, how do you recoup your expenses and make profit? To add salt to the injury, there are countless police checkpoints along the road to settle with roger"

Ononiwu revealed that the yam tubers that are supplied to them by farmers in the East are small. 

According to Ononiwu; "Sometimes, we get supplies from Oguta in Imo State and Abakaliki in Ebonyi State, but these supplies are little compared to the demand for yam".

He bemoaned the lack of interest in large-scale farming by both individuals and governments in the South East region of the country.

"Governments here hardly support real farmers. And many Igbo prefer trading to farming. The few who are doing farming are doing so at subsistent level, to feed their families. It's not in commercial quantity. The tragedy is that they are not even able to feed their families from their small farms."

Owing to the skyrocketing prices of yam, it was discovered that many housewives have switched to buying potatoes and rice. "Rice is also costly. As a result, we now buy either in cups or paint measure. A paint of rice is about N8000. Can you imagine? Mrs Roseline Chukwuma asked.

She pointed out that under President Goodluck Jonathan, a bag of rice sold for N8000. However, she stated that a paint of rice which is about 10 cups will serve a family better than yam tubers of same price. "We can eat a paint of rice for two days but we can do so yam tubers of N8000", she said.

According to her, the solution lies in everybody taking to farming even on a low-scale. Mrs Chukwuma revealed that she is currently doing home farming of yam tubers. According to her, she collected soil in bags and planted yam at a corner of her premises. She said she would harvest them around late October or early November. The ones she harvested last reserved her family for weeks.

Many people will do well to emulate Mrs. Chukwuma. If there any space where you reside, endeavour to plant some crops using bags of soil. This year, families could over the challenges of the present economy.