Abstract
The paper outlines some of the findings and insights achieved from efforts to establish a sustainable seed yam (Dioscorea rotundata) supply system in Idah, Kogi State, Nigeria. The activity was part of a project entitled ‘Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa’ (YIIFSWA), spanning 2012 to 2016, and the paper covers the results of a novel and ambitious intervention designed to establish seed yam entrepreneurs as part of a wider initiative to establish a sustainable seed yam value chain in an area where none had previously existed. Seed yam production by the entrepreneurs was based on the Adapted Yam Minisett Technique (AYMT) and results between 2013 and 2015 suggest that the agronomic performance of AYMT under ‘farmer managed’ conditions was good, with reasonable yields of yam and an average weight (0.8 kg) in the required range for ‘Grade 1ʹ seed yams. The entrepreneurs achieved a good economic return (gross margin) and this translated into a return on investment of around 400 to 600%. However for the seed yam system to be sustainable in the Idah area there is a need to establish a value chain that links traders with growers.