WACOT: Nigeria gets $32m non-oil revenue from sesame export

The General Manager, West African Cotton Company Limited (WACOT) Pankaj Chawla, said ‎Nigeria has non-oil revenue of $320 million from exports of sesame, representing 10 per cent of the total sum of $3.2 billion global trade of the cash crop.

Chawla said that Nigeria is among the leading producers of sesame, adding that about 180,000 Metric Tones (MT) were produced annually in the country.

Speaking during the official launching of mass production of sesame in Gumel Local Government area of Jigawa State‎, the general manager said the country stands to benefit from sesame farming owing to the fact that Chinese farmers have begun to abandon the crop while India ‘s production is hampered by erratic whether condition.

Chawla noted that Nigerian farmers would get an edge due to demand and supply mismatch and good pricing.

He said: “Let me use this opportunity to briefly explain the global scenario of sesame production and how it can benefit us in Nigeria. It is an important cash‎ crop globally. It was originated from India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania and Myanmar. Global production of sesame is around 4.5 million tones out of which 2.0 million tones are traded globally from the import sesame producing countries. Countries like China, Japan, Turkey and Korea are the major buyers of sesame.”

He added: “Nigeria produces around 180,000MT of sesame annually and from our neighbours like Chad and Niger we get about 40,000MT, which when put‎ together gives Nigeria a share of 10per cent of the total. Global trade of sesame. Therefore, the global trade is about $3.2 billion and Nigeria has non-oil revenue of $320 million from export of sesame”, he added

He maintained that the firm’s partnership with the Jigawa government would boost sesame production in the state, noting that the 1.0/ha average yield of the crop would help improve economic life of the people of the state.

Chawla also said that WACOT, having engaged in sesame production business, is also a large producers of cotton with billions of Naira investment in the country, adding that the company has workforce of about 6000 staff.

He appreciated the effort of the Jigawa State government for the agricultural partnership, stressing that the firm is ready to deliver 100per cent in the development ‎of agriculture in the state.

In his address, the Jigawa State deputy governor, Barrister Ibrahim Hassan, ‎restated the government’s willingness to partner with the investors to achieve agricultural development in the state.

According to him, agriculture is the mainstay of the state’s economy, noting that it provides livelihood for over 90per cent of the state’s population.
He added that the state government has identified agriculture as a vehicle to drive the economy of the state forward, saying that the state is 7th largest crop producer in the country with crop value estimated at N644.41 billion.

He further said that the government would mainly focus on agricultural programmes to achieve puberty reduction in the state, adding that it is part of its policies to use agriculture to increase food security, nutrition and contribute to sustainable employment generation and agro-based economic growth.

Now he has almost nothing and is seeking compensation in Ugandan courts from the palm oil plantations he blames for seizing the land and destroying his livelihood. As land grabs by local firms linked to multinationals drive small-holder farmers out of business, a rights group behind a February bid for compensation by 100 farmers says rights violations and environmental degradation are also at stake. Muylisa, a 53-year old father of nine, had leased a 17 hectare (40 acre) plot farming coffee, bananas, cassava and potatoes on Kalangala island. But in 2011 that land was taken and cleared for a palm oil estate. “It’s like I’m starting all over again now,” Muyiisa said, adding he once could earn over $1,400 (Sh140,000) a year (1,300 euros) but is now struggling to survive. “With that land, some of my children even completed university, but now I’ve taken some out of school, some of my daughters are doing housework to earn money.” It is a story repeated elsewhere in Africa, where large internationally-backed companies are snapping up agricultural land, and activists claim their actions deprive local farmers of basic needs. But Muyiisa did not legally own the land he farms - the title deeds are held by the local Sempa family. Horatius Sempa said the 14 farmers were “illegal squatters,” but acknowledged some had received payments of between $35 and $200 (Sh3,500 and 20,000) while others had been allowed to continue farming smaller parcels of land. Muyiisa was left with three hectares (7.5 acres). interest rates The palm oil project is being carried out by Oil Palm Uganda, a subsidiary of local food producer Bidco Uganda. Bidco in turn is a joint venture between global palm oil giant Wilmar International - backed by several European banks and financiers - and other international partners. It is also supported by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which offers government loans at subsidised interest rates to set up plantations. See Also: NSSF Uganda buys stake in Equity after stock sale Campaigners say the Kalangala case highlights a growing conflict over land rights and ownership in Africa between those who hold the legal deeds and the generations of smallholders who occupy and invest in farmland, potentially earning themselves squatters’ rights to remain. “It is happening in Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania,” said environmental campaigner David Kureeba from Friends of the Earth in Uganda, which is supporting the farmers’ legal challenge. “Expansion of palm oil will lead to food insecurity, human rights violations, environmental degradation and climate change,” he argued. Friends of the Earth this month called for Wilmar to immediately halt its palm oil development plans in Nigeria, which they describe as a “key frontier country” for palm oil expansion leading to “conflict”. Muyiisa, one of over 100 farmers in Uganda who lost their farms, are hoping the court will order the land to be handed back, along with “fair compensation” for damages. They claim they were kicked off the land without warning and the compensation they got was derisory.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000170664/uganda-farmers-battle-palm-oil-goliaths-for-land

John Muyisa shows palm seeds in Bumanji, in the district of Kalangala on May 21, 2015. International groups claim land grabs by palm oil giants in Uganda and other countries across Africa, lead to rights violations and environmental degradation.[PHOTO:AFP] Even before the bulldozers arrived life was tough for John Muyiisa, scratching a living from a rented farm on Lake Victoria’s Kalangala island.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000170664/uganda-farmers-battle-palm-oil-goliaths-for-land