The Tomato Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), has said that farmers are being discouraged due to significant loss they incur, thereby lamenting over the lack of implementation of the policy on tomato.

The Association said that cumulatively its members numbering over 47 million have lost about N10 billion during this Tomato season alone.

Narrating their plight while addressing the media in Lagos, Sani Danladi Yadakwari, national secretary of the Association said that due to the lack of the much need infrastructures which include Packing Houses, Storage Ware Housing, Functional Dams etc, in rural farming communities, farmers are faced with a loss of over 40 per cent of their expected production.

“As data by Ministry of agriculture has shown, out of 1,5million metric tonnes of tomato produced every year, 700,000 is lost.

Yearly during the Dry Season, the tomato sector experience glut resulting from bumper harvest in all the tomato producing regions. The lack of guaranteed off-takers for this produce results in even more loses to the farmers. Our farmers have continued to remain in perpetual poverty and the poverty level will continue to rise if the necessary steps are not taken”, the secretary revealed.

Yadakwari, commended the efforts of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Pyxera Global, GAIN PLAN and many others for their continuous strive in ensuring farmers are linked with major off takers such as Dangote Farms, Savannah Farm, Ikara Processing Plants, as these Off-takers have several Memorandum of Understanding MoU’s with tomatoes farmers to feed their processing plants.

He recalled that in 2016, NABG, approached the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbanjo to help address the challenges facing farmers in Nigeria. Emphases during the meeting was on the tomato sector and the need for Federal Government regulations that will guide the importation of tomato concentrates with the ultimate aim of  bring our farmers out of the poverty line, he revealed.

“Federal Government cannot fully enforce an outright ban on importation of tomato paste or concentrates as Nigeria is a member of the World Trade Organization. There must be adequate proof of “DUMPING”.

In 2017 the federal government announced a New Tomato Policy with primary aim that include; increasing the local production of fresh tomatoes; increasing local production of tomato concentrates and reducing post-harvest losses”, he said.

The policy seeks full implementation of the zero percent (0%) import duty policy for greenhouse equipment aimed at boosting production and attracting investment into the tomato sector, enforcement of the ban on importation of tomatoes prepared or preserved otherwise than by vinegar or acetic acid, the restriction on the importation of tomato concentrate to seaports only and not through land borders and the inclusion of tomato production and processing in the list of industries eligible for investment incentives by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

The policy also seeks to increase the tariff on tomato paste or concentrates, not put up for retail sale: Triple concentrate and other (H.S Cod 2002.90.11.00 and 2002.90.19.00) from 5 per cent duty rate in the National List to 10 per cent duty rate with an additional Import Adjustment Tax (IAT) of 40 per cent bringing the total to 50 per cent as well as a levy of $1,500 per metric ton.

The Association regretted however that since the pronouncement by the Federal Government, this policy has been ignored by officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance in connivance with the cabal and Nigerian custom service for interest best known to them that outweighs the survival of Millions of Farmers and Nigeria as a whole.

“Unfortunately when we approached the Nigerian Custom Service regarding the motive behind the non implementation of the policy, we were told that between the date the policy was approved and the date they were given the gazette of the policy for the implementation, it had exceeded the stipulated time of ninety days, enhance they cannot work on it as it has expired.  In other words, Federal Executive Council decision can be ignored by the almighty Customs Service”, he said.

The Association further said that Dangote Farms and Savannah Foods who have off-take arrangements with farmers have remained handicapped, unable to produce and their factories shut down as these packers of triple concentrate in country rely heavily on importation at the detriment of Nigeria Farmers and Industries.

“Even more shocking is the excessive importation by this CABAL resulting from warning from the customs officials as soon as the Policy was given out in March 2017. Our sources claim they have stock-piled over 2 years’ worth of tomato concentrates and paste with the help of both Customs and NAFDAC.

Hence they do not need to buy any made in Nigeria Concentrate originating from our farmers’ hard Labour. In other words, Nigeria is enslaved by this CABAL of untouchables.

These Indigenous factories whom off-take tomatoes from farmers are shutting down because of lack of buyers, because theses packers would rather import from China and other countries.

You recall that Nigeria’s Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (FSAN) office of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has revealed that tomato paste imported from China, and sold throughout Nigeria, falls far below national food safety standards.

FSAN conducted a study in which 314 packets of tomato paste were purchased in Lagos. The tomato paste samples were subjected to analysis in a laboratory to determine whether they had a tomato content of at least 28 percent. This 28 per cent is the minimum requirement specified by the Codex Alimentarius Standards and Nigerian Industrial Standards. The results of the study revealed that 91.1 percent of the samples examined, had tomato contents that are below the standard 28 percent recommended as minimum.

The findings of the study indicate that tomato paste packers are conspiring with Chinese tomato paste manufacturers to distribute substandard products to unsuspecting Nigerian consumers”, he warned.