Taiwo Hassan 
Piqued by the continuous influx of tomato paste smuggling into the country, thereby destabilising local industries’ investments, the Nigerian tomato industry is expected to be repositioned with the completion of N20 billion tomato processing factory in Kebbi State.
The project is bybGBfoods, a global leader in culinary product manufacturing, in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kebbi State Government and the Emirate of Yauri.
Particularly, New Telegraph gathered from the company’s website that the factory was the second largest in Nigeria and the only fully backward integrated plant in ECOWAS – with the largest single tomato farm in Nigeria.
Also, when all phases of the project are finished, the factory will be the largest fresh tomato processing factory in sub-Saharan Africa.
The investment, in the world-class factory and adjoining farm, includes a drip irrigation and fertigation infrastructure, greenhouses, seed planting robots, an incubation chamber and a plethora of agricultural machinery.
The company said the farm would serve a dual purpose as it will produce industrial tomatoes in dry season and soya beans in raining season.
In addition, the tomato factory will convert fresh tomatoes into tomato concentrate used for producing paste while the soya bean will be used to process soya-bean oil, which is a critical ingredient for mayonnaise.
The Chief Executive Officer of GBfoods Africa, Vicenç Bosch, commended the Federal Government for encouraging and supporting GBfoods to engage with CBN, ministries, departments and agencies to ensure the successful completion of the factory.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Federal Ministry of Industry Trade and Investments, Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Kebbi State Government and the Ngaski Local Government Authorities for their tremendous support towards the actualization of the project.
Bosch stated that the project had created over a 1,000 jobs including 500 farming jobs, 150 factory jobs and 150 construction jobs.
He added that the company also engaged many smallholder farmers as out growers. Apart from training the out growers on good agricultural practices, the CEO said GBfoods provided them with tomato seedlings, agrochemicals and various equipment such as water pumps and hose pipes, enabling the farmers’ access to water in the dry season.
GBfoods also supported the host communities by providing and maintaining 16 boreholes of drinking water, a first for some of the surrounding villages.
According to him, the factory is fully backwardly integrated to the company’s farm and dedicated out growers. In the coming season, he said the plant would also source most of its raw materials from out growers, who will grow the tomatoes on their own farms and from GBfoods’ owned and operated farm.
The factory is engaging over 5,000 smallholder farmers as out growers in the coming season.
Bosch added: “Our team of extension workers, consultants and agronomists are ensuring that the Nigerian farmers benefit from the technology transfer of our best practices and know-how built through over 40 years of successful tomato operations in Italy and Spain.”
Speaking at the opening of the factory, Vincent Egbe, the Country Manager, GBfoods Nigeria, said: “The opening of this processing factory is a great milestone for us. It further demonstrates the company’s commitment towards helping Nigeria achieve its food security ambitions, in this case, of self-sufficiency in tomato concentrate production.
“We will continue to work with the Federal Government towards food security and local production and processing of fresh tomatoes. The company is dedicated to reducing pre and post-harvest losses, and also developing the value chain so as to improve revenue streams for tomato farmers.”
