An NGO, Heifer International, says it is partnering two agro-based companies, Agric Topic Vegetable Seed and Captain Nigeria, to boost tomato production in Dadi Louis community, Iworo in Badagry division of Lagos State.
Mr Rufus Idris, the NGO’s Country Director, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN)during the visit of officials of the partners to the community on Thursday.
NAN reports that Dadi Louis community is an Island opposite Whispering Palms in Iworo, Olorunda Local Council Development Area of the state.
Idris said the mission of the NGO was to end poverty ,adding that the partnership would go a long way in supporting farmers on the Island.
“We are here today to have an engagement, to interact with some of the tomato farmers, because in Nigeria, tomato is a key produce.
“We have farmers who are producing in large quantities, and they are struggling a lot in terms of access to market for their products.
“They are struggling to access finance and also struggling to access reasonable water and do all-season farming.
“We are here to understand their problems and challenges and start a process so that we can start mapping these farmers’ farm sizes and see how we can help to lift them out of poverty,” he said.
Idris said the bringing of the food processing company to the Island was to buy tomatoes directly from farmers and improve their livelihoods .
He said the NGO was bringing the right technology to the area to boost tomato production and farmers’ income.
Idris added that the NGO would bring solar energy to the community to reduce dependency on petrol.
Ms Moye Ibo, Marketing Manager, and E-Commerce of Agrictropic Vegetable Seed Nigeria Ltd, said she was on the island to promote tomato production .
“We are in Dadi Louis to enlighten the farmers about our brand of vegetable seeds and also the incorporation of the seeds.
“The farmers are doing very well, they have been patronising us and they are happy to see what we have been bringing out for them.
“They don’t have any fears, is just that they need to put in their best and government should also support them in any way possible.
“This is in making sure that they do their work and bring out good output because this is the season when tomato thrives in Nigeria,” she said.
Ibo urged the government to reduce taxes payable by young companies coming into the country for the production of tomatoes.
According to her, high taxes could discourage investment in tomato production.
Also speaking, Mr Kachi Ekezie, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Captain Foods Ltd. a food processing compsny, said he was so excited to locate a tomato production facility in Lagos.
Ekezie, who started the food processing company in 2016 when he returned from America, said he ventured into food processing because he loved foods made with tomatoes.
He said he was glad that he could source tomatoes for his company in a place very near the location of his facility.
“From 2016 till now, i used to get my tomatoes from Kano State but now I discovered it makes no sense because they have them all here in Badagry.
“They have good quality tomatoes here in Iworo, so, why should I go all the way to the North to go and buy tomatoes, when I can work with these farmers who are working so hard and producing very quality tomstoes.
“With the tomatoes I’m seeing here, if the work is continued, they have enough to feed Lagos instead of going to the North or Republic of Benin to bring tomatoes,” he said.
Ekezie urged the government of Lagos State to help the farmers by subsidising the prices of fertilizer so they could afford it and use it to boost their production.
He said the farmers also needed to be sensitised on the seeds, the fertilisers and everything they needed to produce .
The managing director urged government to grant tax breaks to companies involved in agriculture to encourage investment in the sector.
“This is because Nigeria is a huge importation country, for us to stay away from this, we need to subsidise companies that are going into this business, give them tax break.
“This will make to invest and recover their risk because the environment is not very friendly, taxing them is an additional stress and lack of interest structure will drive them away,” he said.
Mr Aziz Tiamiyu, the Chairman, Itesiwaju Cooperative Multipurpose Society, Dadi Louis, said they had been producing tomatoes on the island for close to 20 years.
Tiamiyu said both the local and state governments had not assisted the farmers on the island, adding that they had been doing everything on their own.
He said the Island was good for tomatoes adding that after producing them people come from different communities to patronize them.
“We are producing good tomatoes because we are buying our seeds from Agrictropic Vegetable Seed Nigeria and the seeds are great.
“We are happy that a food processing company has come to patronise us, they want to buy all the products from us.
“This will make the farmers on the island to double their efforts and do more because a standby buyer is available,” he said.
He urged the government to invest in tomatoes production on the Island, saying the island could produce tomatoes to feed residents of the state with support.
Chief Ibrahim Ayuba, traditional leader of the town ,said he was amazed at the visit of the NGO and other to the island over tomato production.
He said the farmers were ready to produce more with government’s support and investment in tomato production on the island .
(NAN)
