The perennial shortage of tomatoes in Nigeria has been identified as one of the factors behind the shutting down of tomato paste factories in the country. The Group Managing Director of Kewalram-Chanrai Group, Mr. Victor Eburajolo, recently disclosed this to journalists during the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) induction in Lagos.
Eburajolo stated that tomato shortage, which worsens once the harvest season ends, directly affects his organization – Ikara Food processing Plant in Kaduna; thereby forcing them to source raw materials from smallholders.
Other tomato-processing plants have had to shut down
Unfortunately, some tomato processing plants in the country have not been so lucky. In 2016, Nigeria’s biggest tomato paste plant, Erisco Foods Limited, began the process of shutting down its $150bn plant, resulting in reduced output per production. This decision was informed by what the company’s CEO, Eric Umeofia, called lack of government support. Nigeria was at this time embroiled in a serious economic recession which was caused by poor oil prices, low foreign reserves, and high exchange rates.
Manufacturing companies like Erisco Foods Limited struggled to access foreign exchange. This is despite the government’s effort to provide forex windows for investors and exporters.
It should be noted that in the case of Erisco Foods Limited, the company was most-affected because it depended largely on the importation of raw materials and machinery for its operations. The company’s need to import raw materials was due to the constant shortage of locally-sourced materials. This, therefore, highlights the serious challenges some tomato processing plants in the country are currently facing.
Note that nearly two thousand Nigerians lost their job as a result of Erisco’s exit from Nigeria. The company currently operates from a factory in China, exporting its finished goods into Nigeria.
What is responsible for the shortages?
The causes of tomato-shortage in Nigeria can range from post-harvest wastage to poor distribution channels and poor technology utilization. According to an Agriculture Entrepreneur, Kabir Lawal, who spoke to Nairametrics on this subject, other factors responsible for the shortage include:
- Lack of knowledge of value chain
- Low yield varieties
- Use of poor packaging materials
- The lack of access to alternative markets
- Pricing and seasonality
- Poor data usage in the farming process, and
- Infrastructural challenges
Most farmers do not know the proper time to harvest. They and other value chain actors also do not understand the concept of sorting and grading tomatoes by color (ripeness) and size to derive the most value from the product.
The predominant packaging material is the raffia basket which is ergonomically unsuitable for the packaging of a delicate vegetable such as tomatoes. These baskets squash tomatoes during stacking thereby making the farmers and traders lose significant portions of the harvest. Plastic crates are yet to become mainstream in the industry. -Kabir Lawal
What does this mean?
Already, perennial tomato shortages have necessitated the exit of big processing companies such as Erisco Food Limited. Currently, the country imports most of its tomato pastes from countries such as China and Malaysia. This is unfortunate, in the sense that the country has the potential to create wealth through tomato processing while providing sources of employment to the youths.
In the meantime, however, the country will continue to miss out on said economic opportunities until both the government and private investors decide to act accordingly.
