Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has highlighted the importance of addressing constraints militating against export of sesame seeds in order to boost the country’s non-oil exports.

Nigeria’s non-oil export had risen to $1.791 billion in the first quarter of 2025. The non-oil export value represented 24.75 per cent increase compared to 19.59 per cent for the first quarter 2024.

Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nonye Ayeni, said the non-oil performance report for 2024 indicated that sesame seed ranked number three out of the top 20 export products, amounting to 337.8258 metric tonnes with 4.63 per cent of the quantity exported. 

Ayeni spoke at a one-day sensitisation exercise organised by the Council for Sesame Seed Farmers in Dutse, Jigawa State. The theme of the workshop was: “A Tactical Involvement for Enhancing the Production Capacity of Sesame Seed in Jigawa State.

“Nigeria can obtain a significant share in the enormous forex from sesame seed export in the global market,” Ayeni, who was represented by Okany Sylvia, Chief Trade Promotion Officer at NEPC, said.

She stressed the need to enhance the nation’s sesame yields and production, to maximise the export potentials along the value chain.

She said export of Nigeria’s sesame seed to Japan between 2019 and 2021, was allegedly threatened due to the discovery of excess pesticide residue and salmonella.

“The offshoot this discovery was raised by Japan Oil and Fat Importers and Exporters Association (JOFIEA) on 5th August, 2022. Relatively, the Japanese Authorities allegedly confirmed that a high dose of pesticide residue found in Sesame Seed exported to Japan between 2019-2021 was 1.9 times in excess of Maximum Residue Limit (MRL),” Ayeni said.

She highlighted that some of the challenges related to sesame seed export include poor compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, cross contamination during handling process, and lack of proper documentation by exporters.

Ayeni highlighted some of the solutions to include addressing contaminant issue from the farm gate to the market, comprehensive approach and leveraging training of farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)

She said: “The introduction of technology-driven traceability system, tackling logistic hurdles, packaging and product differentiation will also curtail the situation. Quality testing, deployment of modern technology, awareness campaign as well as establishment of good storage system is vital”.

She advocated for the establishment of clusters within medium term frame, stressing that the council would engage relevant stakeholders to ensure zero rejection of agricultural exports, especially sesame seed.

NEPC Coordinator in Jigawa State, Mr Abdulkadir Aliyu, said the council believed that through strategic engagement and partnerships, Nigeria’s sesame seed export would be boosted and competitively repositioned across major destination markets.

He said the overall objective was to help the country tap into the growing opportunities in the global market, particularly in foreign exchange earnings.

He said: “This is a valuable opportunity to gain insights and contribute meaningfully to the development of this important sector”.

One of the participants, Balaraba Ibrahim also called for the establishment of aggregation centres for sesame seed processing in Jigawa.

Ibrahim expressed concern over the level of exploitation being faced by sesame farmers, who lack the capacity to process the produce, adding the trend forced them to dispose it at cheaper prices.

Another participant, Magaji Rabi’u advised farmers and residents of the state to explore export opportunities through the NEPC.