The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), in collaboration with the International Trade Centre, has commenced a two-day needs assessment and validation workshop aimed at strengthening communication strategies on sanitary and phytosanitary compliance for sesame and cowpea exports.
The workshop, which began on Tuesday in Kano, brought together farmers, exporters, associations, and development partners to address challenges affecting export quality and reduce the rejection of Nigerian agricultural produce in international markets.
Speaking at the opening, the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, said the initiative was designed to identify gaps and improve coordination in addressing sanitary and phytosanitary issues within the sesame and cowpea value chains.
“This two-day event aims to identify gaps, overlaps, and areas for synergy in addressing SPS issues in the sesame and cowpea value chains.
“We will also identify the most effective communication and information framework for raising awareness on SPS compliance issues as they relate to these value chains”, she said.
She noted that effective communication was critical to improving compliance and ensuring that stakeholders are properly informed about local and global standards.
“The importance of effective communication and dissemination of information to sesame and cowpea value chain actors cannot be overemphasised. At the end of the sessions, we expect to have an efficient, impactful, and all-inclusive communication awareness strategy,” Ayeni added.
The NEPC boss highlighted the council’s role in promoting non-oil exports, stating that Nigeria recorded a non-oil export value of $6.1bn in 2025, the highest in its history.
“Export volume also reached a record 8.02 million metric tonnes. We exported 281 products to 120 countries, including 11 ECOWAS countries and 32 African countries,” she said.
She added that the council had expanded its operations nationwide to support exporters and had facilitated international certifications for over 210 exporters in areas such as Halal, FDA, and ISO standards.
Ayeni explained that the workshop was part of the STDF 845 initiative launched in 2024 to address compliance challenges in sesame and cowpea exports, with NEPC serving as the implementing agency.
“Working with agencies such as SON, NAFDAC, and NAQS, we have seen a drastic reduction in export rejection. The lessons learned from this project will be extended to other value chains,” she said.
She also commended the International Trade Centre for its continued partnership and support across various projects.
Briefing journalists, the Director of Product Development at NEPC, Macpherson Fred, said the programme was structured as a two-in-one engagement targeting both upstream and downstream actors in the sesame and cowpea value chains.
“This programme is a two-in-one engagement. The communication and awareness workshop, which started on April 14 and will end on April 15, is focused on farmers and primary producers.
“From April 16 to 17, we will also conduct export quality management training for exporters, aggregators, and other downstream actors to strengthen their capacity to meet international standards,” he said.
He said the initiative became necessary due to persistent challenges affecting Nigeria’s agricultural exports, including past export bans and quality compliance issues.
“You will recall that in 2015, there was a ban on cowpea exports to the European Union, while in the sesame value chain, issues relating to pesticide residue levels have led to export rejections at international borders,” he said.
Fred added that the partnership between NEPC and ITC was aimed at improving compliance and boosting Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global market.
“Our goal is to improve sanitary and phytosanitary compliance to ensure Nigerian exports meet destination market requirements and achieve zero rejection at international borders,” he added.
