Nigeria is currently raking massive foreign exchange from the exportation of sesame weed to Asia as the country progresses with diversification.
Sesame seed
Nigeria is currently the biggest supplier of Sesame Seed to Japan.
The Deputy Trade Commissioner of Japan External Trade Organisation, Chiharu Yamamura, said this while making a presentation at a seminar and selection exercise for participation of Nigerian food and beverage exporters in the 43rd edition of the International Food and Beverage Exhibition in Japan.
“We eat sesame seeds and sesame oil in our daily life,” he stated.
The JETRO deputy commissioner added that in 2016, Japan imported 54,276 metric tonnes of Sesame seed valued at ¥6.329m (Japanese Yen) from Nigeria.
Recent report from the National Bureau of Statistics, which listed sesame seed among the largest agro exports from Nigeria in the first quarter of 2017, supports his claim.
According to the report, Nigeria made N13.03bn from the crop during the period in question. The current international price of sesame seed is put at $1,600 or $1,650 per metric tonne.
In a statement issued at the end of the workshop, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council stated that in collaboration with the Japan External Trade Organisation, it was spearheading the participation of Nigerian exporters to the 2018 Food and Beverage Exhibition billed to take place in March 2018.
According to the Deputy Director, Product Development, Mr. Samuel Oyeyipo, who represented the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Mr. Segun Awolowo, the food and beverage trade show, which was the longest in the Asian Pacific region, offered a huge opportunity for producers targeting the Asian market.
He said that it was an opportunity for the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria to showcase their products.
He noted however that the exporters, in order to participate at the exhibition, must meet the requirements for export of food and beverages to the Japanese market, adding that their products must pass a screening test by JETRO headquarters to confirm that they were not prohibited from entering Japan under that country’s laws and regulations.