Sesame seeds have been ranked as the most traded agricultural products in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2020.

This is according to data from National Bureau of Statistics under the foreign trade statistics section.

The produce contributed N49.1bn to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.

Good fermented cocoa beans contributed N35.2bn and superior quality cocoa beans contributed N16.8bn to Nigeria’s exports.

Sesame seeds worth N9.8bn, N9.5 bn and N9.3bn were exported to Japan, Turkey and China respectively.

Good fermented cocoa beans were exported mainly to the Netherlands (valued at N16.5bn) and Germany (valued at N6.6bn), the report said.

Superior raw cocoa beans were exported mainly to the Netherlands, accounting for N11.2bn.

According to the report, the value of sesame seeds accounted for 1.2 per cent share of the total exports, coming in as the fourth highest commodity exported out of the country.

Crude and petroleum products, natural gas, and floating structures were listed as the top three exported items with a share of 72.12 per cent, 11.76 per cent and 8.90 per cent respectively to Nigeria’s exports.

Nigerian exporter, Mr Adebayo Adisa, noted that investing in sesame seeds could turn the country’s fortunes around and tasked the government to invest into the venture.

Punch