Sesame Seeds Export in Nigeria

Some commonly used varieties of Sesame Seeds are:

1.Brown Seeds- Known for their high content of oil around 45-50%, the brown sesame seeds are used for extraction of oil which is extensively used in India.

2.White Seeds- The white seeds which are exported from India is known for their nutty flavor and is used as a condiment for baking purposes, it is mostly found sprinkled over buns and cakes. This can also be sourced from Benue State in Nigeria.

3.Black Seeds- The black seeds are rich in flavor and are mostly used as a seasoning in salads, to marinate meat and vegetables, and also for medicinal purposes.

4.Red Sesame Seeds-The red seeds are rich in aroma so they are mainly used in dishes to enhance the taste.

Nigeria’s sesame seeds export can earn $4.69bn

Sesame seed, a highly nutritional produce with high investment value, which can compete with revenue from oil in Nigeria, has been neglected and left in the hands of peasant farmers and semi-commercial agriculturists for many years.

The plant, which can grow in every state of the country, has the potential to generate about $4.69 billion in foreign exchange into government and farmers’ coffers if given deserved attention and proper funding.

Nigerian’s Sesame seed holds value for export and is currently in hot demand all over the world, owing to its many health benefits and nutritional content, including vitamins, minerals, natural oils and organic compounds, like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, copper, zinc, fibre, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, protein and tryptophan.

As a high value cash crop sold with seed coat removed, sesame’s prices are in the range of about $800 to $900 per tonne or more at the international market and the demand is high. Unfortunately many farmers are not tapping into the economic value of sesame production in Nigeria, as oil extracted from the seeds is better than every other oil. Around the world, there are about 4.8 million tonnes of sesame seed produced. While Myanmar is the largest producer, India and China are the largest exporters. The largest importers of this seed are Japan, Canada, the United States, France, the Netherlands and Turkey, among others. But in Africa, Ethiopia is the largest exporter followed by Sudan.

Daily Sun learnt that sesame seed is Nigeria’s biggest agricultural produce exported to Japan. It is considered as one of the world’s oldest oil seed crop that has the highest oil content than any other seed. A farmer may start with a hectare of land with investment of N60,000, which goes into payments for land preparation, seeds, fertiliser, planting and harvesting. With best practices, a hectare of land can produce between 1 and 1.5 tonnes of sesame seed and a hectare of land would require 4kg of seed, four bags of NPK and one bag of urea.

As a result of the drought-resistant nature of the plant, it thrives well in the Northern part of Nigeria, like Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba, Abuja and some parts of the West. It can also be grown in some parts of the South East and South South. It has been successfully grown in Ebonyi and Northern part of Cross River State while it is also grown in Delta State. According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria’s sesame production is put at 200,000 metric tonnes per hectare.

Jigawa is the highest producer of sesame and stands in particular as well as the nation in general to benefit from sesame farming owing to the fact that Chinese farmers have begun to abandon the crop while India’s production is hampered by erratic weather conditions. Sesame farmers in Nigeria have an advantage due to demand and supply mismatch, coupled with good pricing.

Daily Sun investigation revealed that a sesame farmer who started the business in Kano eight years ago is controlling about N8 billion. OLAM Farms made huge money from sesame farming and a private individual that is into it made a lot of money from sesame. As Nigeria explores opportunities to earn substantial foreign exchange through the non-oil export, sesame seed could play a vital role, as export figures between October and November 2016 show that the crop has high output potential.

The recent merchandise trade intensity index analysis released by Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that sesame seed worth N6.46 billion was exported during the period, representing 39.4 per cent of agricultural exports between October and November 2016.

Stakeholders say export numbers are an indication that the sesame seed production has the capacity to grow and earn Nigeria huge foreign exchange and create hundreds of jobs as long as government draws a master plan for the sub-sector as it has done in rice. Sesame has a lot of potential. It has both commercial, consumption and medicinal value and possesses huge export potential for foreign exchange.

Speaking with Daily Sun, National President of Sesame Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mutairu Mamudu, said among other cash crops, the commodity is 100 per cent free of cholesterol, which is why the demand is very high both locally and internationally. As Nigeria is still not exploiting the full potential of sesame, he urged government to encourage more investments in the value chain of the crop, adding that, “Nigeria’s agriculture has been very prominent on paper. It is not practically done because in Nigeria you cannot boast of a local government area having up to five tractors and we are saying we want to go into agriculture. Because of that, the crop itself (sesame) was left in the hands of peasant farmers, especially in the Northern part of the country, and this is why one of our objectives is to bring sesame farmers into a single umbrella for national recognition and thereafter, we shall preach to government and tell them the potentiality in sesame production.”

He said if government is serious about agriculture, each local government should have at least 10 tractors across the country, as previous governments were not serious about agriculture as no local government area in Nigeria can boast of five tractors. He said government could make huge revenue from just hiring out tractors alone if they can be made available to all local governments in the country.

Speaking on the economic value of sesame, he lamented: “If I have my way, there is no state in Nigeria that will not farm about 800 hectares of the crop because the market is there. But our leaders create programmes they will like to benefit from immediately. Once the programme is established, whether it is positive or negative, they have already removed the profit, which is the behaviour of 80 per cent of our leaders. No one comes out to say, ‘let me make a name, let me leave legacy.’ Once another government comes, whatever good the previous government programme had done, they change it. Our leaders should change for the betterment of this country.

“The commercial, consumption and medicinal values of sesame are very high compared to any other crop and out of the global requirement, only about 30 per cent is being produced. Let’s assume the entire continent knows the oil value of sesame since it is totally cholesterol free and everybody wants to consume sesame, it will be more expensive than what it is today. Worldwide, we have not got up to 50 per cent production needed; we are still under 30 per cent. You can see from the result that even Sudan is higher than Nigeria in sesame production because Nigeria is just waking up and by the time it fully wakes up, it shall set the table.”

Mamudu further said the association is trying to sponsor 1000 farmers, each with two hectares as a pilot programme, saying more hands should go into sesame farming even without intervention of the government.

Source:    sunnewsonline.com/nigerias-sesame-seeds-export-can-earn-4-69bn/