Ghana has gifted Trinidad and Tobago ten thousand yam seeds upon a visit by their Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in early May 2024.
According to Dr Rowley, the gift of yams will hopefully play a part in improving local diets and reducing the country’s billion-dollar food import bill.
But, he said this can only be achieved if citizens consume it over other imported products.
Speaking at the Tucker Valley Shade House, Chaguaramas Agricultural Park in Chaguaramas yesterday, Rowley said the intention was to multiply and propagate the species into the farming community.
“We recently received as a gift from Dr Mitchell at the Ghanian authorities, 10,000 units of planting material of four varieties of yams, so, we are introducing those varieties into Trinidad and Tobago now. I am particularly pleased this morning to associate my office and myself with this initiative because I believe that it will have far-reaching contributions to something that we talk about a lot and that is reducing our food import bill,” Rowley said.
“If you talk to anybody in this country about food import, they will tell you that this country imports too much of its food and we need to reduce our food import bill. But, that objective can only be achieved in two ways; if we produce more food locally and if we consume what we produce.”
He said, “While I was in Ghana, I was able to sample a number of these white yams, smooth, soft, beautifully tasting white yams which can replace the white potato that we import. You know we import a lot of what you call ‘Irish potatoes.’ It’s a white potato from Canada. That forms a huge part of our diet in very many ways.”
Source: graphic online
