Yam exports set to dip below US$40m for second year

Jamaican yam exporters expect some recovery in August after production fell by two-thirds at some farms in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.

The crop, which in a good year earns about $6.5 billion (US$40 million) – more than coffee and ackee combined – faces a second year of setbacks following back-to-back storms.

Rita Hilton, director of Carita Jamaica Ltd, a large exporter, said her company has been able to ship only two containers of yam at a time, down from the usual six. Carita exports mainly to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. “Given our overheads, this is unsustainable,” Hilton told the Financial Gleaner.

In Georgia, Lisa Campbell Mitchell, proprietor of Choice Caribbean Market, said sourcing Jamaican yam has become a challenge. A 38-pound box she buys from Floridian suppliers has jumped from US$135 before Melissa to US$185. At a retail price of US$6.99 per pound, she said, the cost is becoming prohibitive.

Yam has been scarce since early this year. Farm gate prices have held at about J$450 per pound, even as other crops fell back after Melissa’s passage last October. Exporters say they have struggled to secure enough supply at viable prices.

Yam is Jamaica’s largest export crop, earning US$37.1 million in 2024, down from US$42.7 million in 2022, according to the Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica. Coffee brought in US$16 million last year, while canned ackee earned US$18.1 million, both down one-third from 2023 levels.

Production totalled 195,000 tonnes in 2024, with three-quarters of it being yellow yam. Renta accounted for about 5.0 per cent, with other varieties making up the rest. At Kingston’s Coronation Market, yellow yam has sold for $500 per pound in recent weeks, while Barbie and Renta varieties hover around $400.

“We had a big setback because of the storm,” said Jeffrey Platt, a farmer in Banana Ground, Manchester. “It blew down the vines and pop them out of the yam hills, so the yam made no heads and them dead.” Platt said vendors buy yam from his farm at $500 per pound and resell in Mandeville Market for $600.

Platt, who has farmed yam for more than three decades, warned that shortages could worsen. “Yellow yam will continue to be short through June to August, although there may be some ease when Lucy yam comes in,” he said. Prices could reach $800 per pound in the coming months, he added.

Yellow yam takes 10 to 11 months to mature, while Lucy, the quickest variety, takes seven to eight months. Platt said he has about 3,000 hills in the ground, including yellow, Negro and Lucy.

“Yam will be scarce for some time,” he said.

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com