2. WHY SESAME?
Sesame is drought-tolerant and is able to grow
where other crops fail, thereby making it a suitable
crop for the arid and semi-arid parts of Zimbabwe
such as Binga, Chiredzi, Chipinge and Gokwe. It is
well adapted to a wide range of soils and has excel-
lent disease and insect tolerance. The crop is a high
value, low cost crop which is more ideal for resource
poor communal farmers. The global sesame market
is growing at 4% per annum and the relatively high
prices being offered internationally reflects a world-
wide shortage. These unique attributes befitting a
medley of cropping systems qualifies sesame as a
crop with great potential for poverty alleviation, food
and nutrition security and household income genera-
tion for smallholder farmers.
WHAT IS OPEN SESAME
(RUNINGA/BWENGO)?
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is one of the oldest cul-
tivated plants in the world, prized as an oilseed for at
least 5,000 years and referred to as “open sesame”
because of its shattering characteristics. The sesa-
mum plant is a tall broadleaf warm season annual
crop, which grows extensively in Asian and Africa. It
is a commercial crop in countries like Tanzania, Su-
dan and Ethiopia. There are many sesame types and
also many varieties. In Zimbabwe there are many lo-
cal domesticated types but for commercial purposes
Lindi 2002 and ICTA 128 are the recommended va-
rieties.
OUR WORK IN
PROMITING SESAME
• Advancing pluralistic advisory service delivery.
• Creating commodity-specific producer associa-
tions.
• Linking smallholder farmers to sustainable and
inclusive business and markets.
• Maintaining sustainable trading relationships
through a value chain Multistakeholder platform.
WHAT IS SESAME USED FOR?
Sesame seed is processed and utilized in numerous
ways. In most areas of the world, sesame is pro-
duced for its cooking oil and other direct food uses,
with some direct consumption of the seed. Sesame
seed is primarily used as a confectionary topping, in
baked goods, or as a condiment. In Zimbabwe the
crop is used as an additive in the medicinal, pharma-
ceutical, bread and confectionery industries and as a
source of valuable and high quality oil (44 to 55 % oil
content compared to 20% oil content of soya bean).
Sesame seeds have also been widely employed in
culinary as well as traditional medicines for their nu-
tritive, preventive, and curative properties. Sesame
is an important source of phyto-nutrients (omega-6
fatty acids, flavonoid phenolic anti-oxidants, vita-
mins) and dietary fibre with potential anti-cancer
as well as health promoting
properties.
