As Nigeria intensifies its drive to earn more dollars through non-oil exports, stakeholders say processing sesame seeds into higher-value by-products such as butter and oil could unlock significant revenue and job creation.
Nigeria’s sesame seeds exports surged from N73.8 billion in 2014 to N1 trillion in 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with most exports headed for Asia. Yet analysts warn that raw exports are leaving money on the table for Nigeria.
“If we can earn N1 trillion from exporting sesame seeds alone, you can imagine how much we would have earned if we were exporting the oil and cake,” said Mutairu Mamudu, national president of the Association of Sesame Farmers of Nigeria.
In the past decade, Nigeria exported just N187.23 million worth of sesame oil, highlighting a large value-addition gap. Mamudu noted that Asian countries such as China and Japan, major importers of Nigeria’s sesame, process the seeds into products ranging from butter to cosmetics, thereby capturing more value and creating local jobs.
“We are paying too much attention to exporting sesame than converting it to serious products that have a lot of commercial value,” he said.
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The seeds, which has 44–60 percent oil content, are used in baking, medicine, cosmetics, lubricants, and food. Globally, sesame oil is prized as a cholesterol-free alternative and features in branded consumer goods like Neutrogena body lotion.
Japan, for instance, uses sesame in various local products, including sesame paste (nerigoma), sesame seasoning (gomasio), and snacks—underscoring its utility beyond basic consumption.
Despite being the world’s fifth-largest sesame producer with 420,000 metric tons in 2023, Nigeria’s domestic processing remains underdeveloped, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Victor Iyama, chairman of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), attributed this gap to a lack of investment awareness. “We need to encourage local processing of sesame seeds,” he said. “Right now, many people are aware of the health benefits of the crop? Some are now using it to cook soups instead of melon seeds. However, the value chain still requires a lot of awareness.”
He called for single-digit interest loans for both farmers and manufacturers to scale production and processing. “It is not enough for us to build factories for local processing. We have to find how we can increase local production to be able to supply those factories with quality sesame seeds,” Iyama added.
Sesame is predominantly cultivated in Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa states, and grows mostly during the April-to-July rainy season. It is one of the oldest known oilseed crops and currently has a global market value of over $700,000, with projections to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.3 percent by 2030.
For a country struggling to diversify its foreign exchange earnings, analysts say sesame offers both a strategic commodity and a test case for turning agricultural exports into a refined industrial play.
