Access to affordable finance is one of the biggest obstacles standing between Nigerian smallholders and a bigger harvest, and a new programme in the north is trying to remove it for sesame growers. WACOT Limited, a member of the TGI Group, has launched its 2026 Sesame Outgrower Programme in Jigawa State, targeting more than 10,000 smallholder farmers with improved access to finance, quality inputs, extension services and sustainable farming practices, according to Vanguard.
Credit Tied to the Harvest
The scheme is run in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture under the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Programme, and it began with the distribution of agricultural inputs to farmers in Medu Village, Gagarawa Local Government Area, the Vanguard report noted. Representing the Bank of Agriculture, its Executive Director of Operations, Tosin Salami, said the partnership would let farmers access subsidised agricultural input loans through a structured repayment arrangement, tying credit to the crop so growers repay after they sell rather than needing cash before they plant.
Part of a Bigger Finance Push
The programme sits within a wider effort to get farm credit flowing. President Bola Tinubu approved a ₦1.5 trillion recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture, described by the government as the most significant boost to agricultural finance in the country's history and aimed at reaching youth, women and smallholder producers, according to Punch. The bank has said it has already used intervention funds to support more than two million smallholder farmers who together produce close to 90 per cent of Nigeria's food, according to an interview its Managing Director, Ayo Sotirin, gave BusinessDay. Directing that money toward outgrower schemes like the WACOT programme is one way the bank is trying to turn a big balance sheet into real support at the farm gate.
Why Sesame Is Worth the Effort
The crop at the centre of the scheme is a quiet earner. Sesame is one of Nigeria's most valuable export commodities, with major growing hubs across northern states, and export promoters have urged farmers to move beyond raw production into processing and better post-harvest handling to capture more value, according to the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation. Outgrower models matter here because they connect scattered smallholders directly to a large offtaker, giving farmers a guaranteed buyer and giving the buyer a reliable, traceable supply, the kind of link that raises quality and steadies incomes. One beneficiary in Gagarawa said the support had already improved farming practices and household incomes among participating farmers, the Vanguard account added.
Stronger smallholder financing means more planting, larger harvests and steadier supply of a crop that earns Nigeria foreign exchange. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices across Lagos markets and follows the farm-level support that shapes the wider food economy.