NEWS;Economic and Commercial Value of Sesame Seed Revealed by Nigerian Export Promotion Council

By Tom Garba

7th January, 2016.

Yola Zonal Office of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council NEPC has organized a Forum on Sesame Seed production, processing and export for about 79 stakeholders.

Alhaji Mansur Yusuf, the Council Controller in charge of Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba, made the disclosure to Newsmen here in Yola. “Sesame seed refined oil is among the expensive cooking oil in the oil” he said. Yusuf added that the forum was aimed at fostering synergy and collaboration among stakeholders to promote value chain and clusters in sesame seed business in the zones and that the council had early this year, organized a stakeholder’s forum on sesame seed production in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State where over seventy (70) sesame farmers and marketers participated.

“The objective of the forum was to increase production and processing of the commodity in the zone and in Taraba in particular to reach export level.”  Yusuf said.

He futherly explained that Nigerian Sesame seed was among the best in the World and if properly improved would generate millions of Dollars to Nigeria adding that the forum was in line with the Federal Government drives toward the development of non-oil sector with the emphasis on agricultural and solid minerals sectors.

However, he regretted that the decline in oil revenue as a result of the recent fall of price in international markets necessitated the council to diversify to non-oil means for sustainability of national economic growth. It is however in this regards that the council has identified five major border markets in Adamawa and Taraba States situated along Nigeria-Cameroon borders where non-oil goods worth billions of naira were being locally exported.

The zonal council controller assured that with the strong political will enabling business environment and also the collaboration of organized stakeholders, Nigeria would soon be path of inclusive economic growth and sustainable development.