In a bid to boost earnings and benefit from rising agriculture commodity prices of sesame seeds, the Sokoto state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal announced that the state will provide farmland to farmers for Sesame cultivation to create over 100,000 jobs by 2022.
The Governor disclosed this during an inspection of the produce cleaning and standardisation process on Monday, reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.
What the Governor said
“It is now clear that sesame can grow in Sokoto state and the government of the state is willing to continue to support the farmers generally and specifically those that are involved in sesame farming as we did last year,” he said.
“We have seen the positive impact and we are ready to do even more. If you don’t have a farm, go back to your local government area and register.
“Government is ready to provide more farmlands now to farmers. I hereby direct the Commissioner for Agriculture to liaise with the overseer of the ministry for local government affairs. This scheme should start immediately,” he added.
The State Governor revealed that global prices for sesame seed, which shrunk from 2017-2020 increased and currently fetches 1,075 USD per metric tonne, due to economic reopening and rising diversified use of the seed.
“Therefore, all our farmers who are interested in having farmlands should go and register with the department of agriculture of the local government, in order to see how best we can encourage our people to go back to farm. It is very important,” Governor Tambuwal said.
What you should know
The Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) revealed that Nigeria had agriculture exports of N127 billion in Q1 2021, adding that Sesame topped the list of exported agriculture commodities at N41.9 billion.
Recall Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s agricultural export stood at N127.2 billion in the first three months (January – March) of 2021. This represents a 128% increase compared to N55.8 billion recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2020).
Top Agro exports in Q1 2021 were:
Sesamum seeds – N41.94 billion
Cocoa beans – N35.49 billion
Cashew nuts – N13.71 billion
Coconuts – N8.66 billion
Ginger – N5.57 billion
How people of the Nigeria