Yams are a primary agricultural commodity across much of West and Central Africa where tubers are planted between February and April and harvested 180 to 270 days later.
Yams are flowering plants of the family Dioscoreaceae, consisting of more than 800 species of climbing vines and woody shrubs. Many members of the yam family produce subterranean tubers or tuberous stems, and have heart-shaped leaves, small green or white flowers, and a fruit that is a winged capsule or berry. Yams are distributed widely throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world, though current geographic distribution has almost certainly been influenced by human translocations. Today yams are widely used as an important food staple and as a fallback food in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Pacific islands, and South America.
In 2007, worldwide yam production totaled 52 million t, of which Africa produced 96 %, most of which derived from West Africa, with Nigeria alone producing 71 % of that total. Yams are a good source of dietary fiber and are rich in carbohydrates, vitamin C, and essential minerals
