The former Sudan was the leading sesame seed oil producer in Africa for 48 years, from 1961 to 2011.
Nigeria topped Africa’s production rankings between 2012–2014 and 2016–2018.
The Central African Republic led sesame oil production in Africa for five years in a recent period.
East African countries, particularly Tanzania and Uganda, have seen significant growth in sesame oil production since the 1990s.
Six countries—Former Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Central African Republic—have consistently played leading roles in Africa’s sesame seed oil production from 1961 to 1981 before the inclusion of some other African countries.
Following their separation, both Sudan and South Sudan have remained among the top sesame oil producers in Africa.
The top producers of sesame seed oil in Africa are mainly from Sub-Sahara African countries.
In SSA, sesame is often grown by small-scale farmers for export purposes.
Nigeria leads Africa in total arable land with 36,872,000 hectares, more than twice that of Niger, the second-ranking country.
Niger ranks second with 17,700,000 hectares.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) ranks third with 13,680,000 hectares, revealing the role of Central Africa in agricultural land availability.
Other notable countries include Chad (5.3M hectares), Zambia (3.8M hectares), and Guinea (3.1M hectares).
The countries at the bottom of the top ten list, such as Congo (550,000 hectares), Liberia (500,000 hectares), and Mauritania (450,000 hectares), have relatively limited arable land compared to leading nations.
