Why I dumped accounting profession for agribusiness- Aighewi

Evian Aighewi processing yam to make yam cake and other confectioneries.

A female accountant, Evian Aighewi, who graduated from Wesley University, Ondo State, said agribusiness pays more than her field of study, which prompted her to go into yam processing for various confectionaries, including yam cake, pan-cake, cookies, chin-chin, and others.

According to Aighewi one of her friends informed her about the IITA Youth Agripreneur, IYA, incubation platform. According to her the IYA programme has young graduates undergoing training, which IITA Abuja Station has 33 participants, and others are in Ibadan, Kano, Onne and Imo.

She further stated that IYA platform plans to link its graduates to credit facilities to become agricultural entrepreneurs who will in turn employ other youths

She said: “When I finished my mandatory National Youth Service in 2016, one of my colleagues told me about the IITA Youth Agripreneurs program training youth on the different agricultural value chain at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Kubwa Station in Abuja.

“When I was taken, I joined the fisheries and livestock unit. I used to make banana cakes, banana bread, pineapple cakes, and others, sell while I continued with my training on fisheries and livestock.

“The way it started that I became a yam processor was on a day those who are into yam programme at IITA were having a day called ‘Yam Day’ approached me and gave me their recipe book and told me to create something out of it because they know that I bake.

“Presently, in Nigeria am yet to see another person who processes yam into cakes, cookies, pancakes and pastries because I don’t know anybody in that area, rather most people consume yam in form of pounded yam with soup and boiled yam, others use the flour for amala dish. That made me to go into yam processing venture.

“The yam which is called dioscorea alata, popularly known as ‘water yam’, is better for processing because it is recommended for diabetic patients to take because of its low starch content. I processed it into yam cake, fish and meat pies, including other pastries.”

She also explained that the processing of yam into confectionaries include peeling the back of the yam, slicing it into tiny bits, apply a chemical called sodium metabisulphite, to keep it white or put them into hot water for about three minutes then remove and dry them under the sun for two days, and then taken to the mill for grinding. After this the process of making yam cake and other confectioneries begins.

However, she (Aighewi) is yet to go into mass production as she is still with IITA.