PRIVATE - PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE TO TARGET LOCAL PROCESSING AND UTILIZATION OF SESAME SEED

As part of efforts aimed at providing required impetus and enabling environment for fast-tracking local production and utilization of African Sesame, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST), the Strategic Sesame Seed Organization (SSSP), and others, have organized a two-day African Sesame Seed forum.

The event which took place at the Shehu Musa Yar’adua center, set out to address issues important to the development and utilization of the crop in Africa, chief among which were the recommendation for emergence of a body to be named African Sesame Seed Association (ASSA) with membership from both private and public sectors, including the International community, to tackle the problems inhibiting the development of Africa Sesame seed programme. It also did not leave out aspects on fast-tracking the continents Sesame platform and exploring ways for deploying scarce appropriate process technology for processing the commodity locally thereby overcoming the unsavoury trend of exporting Sesame Seed in its “exploitative” raw form. 

The workshop attracted over 65 participants from both the private and public sectors including the International Community and was held under the theme of proffering a functional mechanism for production, processing and marketing of Sesame seed within the continent as a tool for sustainable job creation, poverty alleviation, as well as boosting the value of export trades, and massive growth of the economy, among other considerations.  

Paper titles at the forum included Strategic Position of Sesame as Cash Crop in Africa, Global Markets and Quality Standards for Sesame, challenges and Prospects of the Sesame Farmers in Africa, Institutionalization of the African Sesame Seed Programme, with syndicate discussions dwelling on a wide range of topics. A Communiqué was also issued at the end of deliberations in this regard with other recommendations   that farmers at different levels should be encouraged to form  Cooperatives to enable them have access to credit facilities, loans, venture capitals and collaterals. 

Other recommendations in this regard were that it was important for Sesame Seed producing States to establish pilot processing plants at strategic locations, provision of adequate information to Sesame farmers by all stakeholders, that all relevant government agencies, especially RMRDC, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and others should assist in providing internally accepted varieties of the crop to farmers, Financial Institutions should provide soft loans to farmers in order to boost local production and processing of Sesame Seed, including that the Federal Government should protect and encourage local farmers through the provision of infrastructural facilities such as energy, good roads, portable water, communication, among others. 

Among the dignitaries at the forum were the Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, who declared the event opened, the Ambassador of the State of Israel, Mr. Noam Kartz. Ohters were Representatives of Malian Embassy in Nigeria, Special Adviser to the President on Manufacturing, the Benue State Government, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Ministry of Industry, Nigerian Export Processing Zonal Authority, Nigerian Export Import (NEXIM) Bank, National Space Research & Development Agency (NASRDA), among a host of others from the private sector.

                                                                                                                            Chucks Ngaha