In Kaduna, Tomato Jos officially commission Tomato Paste Factory in Kaduna with the presence of the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai yesterday.
Tomato Jos Farming and Processing Limited (Tomato Jos), a Nigerian agric company, dream began in 2008, when the Founder, Mira Mehta, encountered her first tomato market glut in Northern Nigeria. Tomato Jos is helping smallholder farmers become expert tomato growers to serve local markets. The company is located in Kaduna, a city about 190km from Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja.
Kaduna State is home to approximately 1.3 million farming families, many of whom farm both maize and soybean, two of Nigeria’s staple crops. However, domestic production of these grains is failing to meet the high market demand because of several limitations faced by farmers, including outdated farming techniques, limited awareness of the market’s quality demand, and a lack of funds to improve their farming practices.
On September 25, 2021, Tomato Jos celebrated the official commissioning of Tomato Paste Factory in Kaduna with the presence of the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
Speaking at the commissioning of Tomato Paste Factory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai stated that, “the commissioning of the tomato processing plant of Tomato Jos is a fitting conclusion to KADInvest 2.0 yesterday. It is a clear testimony of the steady progression of the investors that have responded to our consistent pitch about the economic potentials that inhere in our land and our people.
I am honoured to commission this factory. When we performed the groundbreaking for this project on 27 January 2020, we welcomed it as a vital investment in the agricultural potentials of Kaduna State.”
El-rufai added that, he is grateful to Tomato Jos for choosing to make Kaduna home. The record of Mira Mehta and her team in helping our farmers to improve their yields is itself an assurance that Tomato Jos will continue to pull the community up. The impact statements from community members are a bigger tribute than we can pay to the company.
He wish Tomato Jos every success in this transition from growing tomato to also processing it.
Recently, the West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) announced a $1.2 million (N494 million) co-investment grant to Tomato Jos. The company has also earmarked N7 billion for investment within the next five years to fully scale up its operation in Nigeria.
The company had so far employed 2,500 and is to engage over 5000 more Nigerians at the completion of the processing plant. Tomato Jos has directly supported over 70 farmers in growing their average yield by over 340% from 5 to 22 metric tons per hectare, while increasing average income 455%.
