Nigeria's ancient jaggery-makers thrive despite huge sugar imports
Reuters Videos
Thu, January 15, 2026 at 8:32 AM EST
STORY: Keeping alive a 200-year-old family tradition, Jamilu Usman produces a natural sweetener called ''jaggery'' from the sugarcane fields of Kano in northern Nigeria.
It's a small-scale operation providing an alternative to the country's mass imports of the commodity.
Nigeria consumes around 1.5 million metric tonnes of sugar annually.
The vast majority is imported as raw sugar and refined at three major industrial refineries.
Brazil dominates as the largest supplier, holding over 97% of Nigeria's raw sugar import market share.
But traditional producers like Usman continue an ancient craft passed down through generations.
‘’This jaggery is processed from sugarcane that we planted and left to maturity and after the rainy season, we set up our machines, cut the sugarcane stalks. We run the stalks through the machine to separate the juice from the pulp, then we take the juice for boiling.’’
The hot syrup is poured into steel moulds and left to cool and solidify into blocks.
Workers then package the jaggery into cartons ready for sale.
The traditional sweetener has become a profitable export commodity for retailers like Alkasim Zamba.
‘’We buy a carton of jaggery for $19 dollars (30,000 naira), and we export it to countries such as Ghana, Chad, Cameroon and various other countries. There is nowhere we do not take it to sell.’’
For local consumers, jaggery offers an affordable and healthier alternative to refined white sugar.
It meets demand for natural sweeteners in West African markets
as well as providing livelihoods in rural communities.
View Comments