It is no longer news that Dangote tomato paste factory has kicked off after Erisco foods factory opening in February, what is however news is the resultant effect down here in the south, especially during the dry season when irrigation farming starts. In this little piece i will showcase from the point of view of a farmer and my experience as a farmland seller in Ogun state, the advantage of these factories and also the ‘other’ side of it and how as an eagle you can tame the tide to your advantage.
Till now 80% of tomatoes grown in the north end up in the south and about 20% of this ends in Lagos ( ketu and mile12 market), unfortunately this year tomatoes sellers experienced glut which forced down prices to the lowest ever experienced in recent times. This is due to improved technology and seedling which saw unprecedented success. Basically south depends largely for supplies from the North for its tomatoes need. Any break or distortion in the supply link will greatly affect the price and quality of tomatoes we get here (sadly most of our southern farmers are not as aggressive planters as northerners)
Erisco tomato paste plant in Oregun which was commissioned 3 weeks ago by Mrs Aisha Buhari will churn out 450,000 tons of tomatoes paste annually and will need a steady supply of 10 trucks of tomatoes DAILY.. yes you read it rightly ‘DAILY’. Dangote tomatoes paste factory will churn out 1200 tons of paste daily and will need 11 trucks of fresh tomatoes daily. So tell me how wouldn’t these 2 companies go all out to ensure steady supply as tomatoe paste line must not be shut down due to lack of tomato feed as this will cost them millions of naira to re-start the whole production process ( this is another topic entirely and not related to the post, so i will not dwell on it).
Dangote has proposed between $300-$700 USD per ton of tomatoes to farmers who will supply him, this means a 30 tons truck is about $900-$21,000 USD. If we do the math that’s some cool millions in Naira. This same volume and price applies to Erisco. So let us ask ourselves the honest questions as farmers…will you stress yourself to bring your tomatoes down to the south from the North? It is worthy to chip this in, farmers in kadawa, Kano refused seeds from Dangote because he said his seed will give a yield of 100 tonnes of tomatoes per hectare. So basically Dangote will be seeking partnership with tomatoes to maintain steady supply .
Nigeria tomato paste market is $1.5 billion USD (RMRDC) majorly imported from china and Italy. This consumption figure does not include the fresh tomatoes bought in the market by different households and individuals. So literarily tomatoe business is now a huge potential for any serious minded farmer this year. Lucky enough you do not need big money before you start, with just 3 acres( 18plots, 1 hectare) you can control reasonable portion of tomatoe market and tap into the $1.5b pool. Good news here is that we have cost friendly farmlands at obafemi-owode local government which is central to lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan and shagham interchange which connects to the east which you can take advantage of this to grow your tomatoes, you can also inter-crop with pepper and other vegetables.
Earlier this month we all read about the clash between the Hausas and their host community in ketu area of Lagos, this forced the state government to seal the mile12 market temporarily. However because tomatoes and pepper are perishable goods, sellers cannot wait till government re-open the market, so they moved enmasse to Kara at Mowe in Ogun-state. What this means is that your farm will be close to the market (Kara) and you will not have to go through stress of navigating traffic in Lagos, you won’t have to face market cabal because the kara market is an open market. Any farmer who has ever transported perishable goods to Lagos market will understand this stress I am talking about better.
A hectare of good and well managed farm will yield 30tonnes of tomatoes provided you plant good and quality hybrid seeds. So why don’t you take care of the teeming populace when Dangote and Erisco mop up 80% of the fresh tomatoes market?
I am open and available to answer your questions..so let's roll