ýDespite being Nigeria’s third most exported product and generating over ?1 trillion in 2024, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said sesame seeds continue to face widespread rejection in international markets.
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ýNEPC North West Regional Coordinator, Hajiya Amina Abdulmalik, said the rejection is due to safety and quality lapses.
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ýSpeaking at a stakeholder training in Kano on Thursday, the coordinator warned that indiscriminate chemical use and poor post-harvest practices are undermining the country’s position as the world’s fourth-largest sesame exporter.
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ýShe revealed that many farmers apply paraquat directly on sesame seeds to speed up drying, leaving harmful residues that trigger rejection abroad.
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ýAbdulmalik said, ‘Quantity is not the issue, quality is. If Western buyers reject it, why should we consume it locally?’
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ý’When farmers earn more, Nigeria earns more. But only if our sesame meets global standards, and that is why we are trying to sensitise these farmers on the causes of the rejection,’ she added.
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ýAlso speaking on the strategies to avoid the frequent rejection, a retired Deputy Director at Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (KNARDA), Ibrahim Umar Halilu noted that contamination and pesticide misuse remain recurring problems.
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ýHe also stressed that Nigeria risks losing its competitive edge unless farmers adopt global best practices in site selection, planting, harvesting, storage, and transportation.
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ýThe training aimed to equip farmers with Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to produce cleaner, safer sesame that can pass international inspections and command premium prices.
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ýDaily Trust reports that sesame ranked as Nigeria’s third most exported product in 2025 when 338,000 metric tonnes were shipped abroad.