SESAME PRODUCTION PANACEA FOR NIGERIAN ECONOMY DIVERSIFICATTION - Copy

Abstract

This study is a review of sesame production in Nigeria. Data for this review was collected using primary and secondary sources. Production of sesame in Nigeria saw a tremendous increase in the last decade with an output of 80,000 metric tonnes in 2003 to about 158,000 metric tonnes in 2012. This increase was facilitated by the export of sesame seed which stood at 35,000 metric tonnes in 2003 to about 40,800 metric tonnes in 2010. Nigeria gulped a foreign exchange earnings of $19,000,000 to about $139,000,000 under the period above. Sesame oil is the most sought after vegetable oil in the world and can be used to produce margarine. Sesame is extensively cultivated in Nasarawa, Benue, and Jigawa states.it is extensively cultivated by small farm holders in Northern Cross River, Ebonyi, Niger, Gombe. Katsina, Yobe and Borno states. One of the major factors responsible for low agricultural productivity in Nigeria is farmers limited access to production inputs which is necessary for attaining a high level of production in Nigeria. Nigeria’s inability to fully tap into the economic potentials of the crop is a reflection of its inefficient nature in sesame production. If Nigerian government can put a nip in the bud to these challenges, then the era of a mono economy will be a thing of the past. It is therefore recommended that government encourage sesame production through appropriate policy formulation, credit facilities should be made accessible to farmers, commercial sesame farms should be established by government and agricultural mechanization should be reawakened in all the six geo-political zones in the country

KEY WORDS: Sesame seed, Sesame production, economy, agricultural mechanization, Economic diversification, Agriculture.