Tomato Jos is a huge for-profit social activity, which has created the first domestic Nigerian trademark of tomato paste. We work with the full tomato price chain (agriculture, logistics, and also processing). The source of our raw materials comes from the smallholder farmers.
Despite all the difficulties, Mira Mehta, who is 31-year-old graduate from Harvard Business School, did her researches and made the plunge launch of her new start-up, which is called Tomato Jos.

The US businesswoman, who had worked on some Nigerian health projects before (it was in the Clinton Foundation), told that she began thinking about different farming projects after she was driving by something that looked like strange crimson carpets. The farmers had to dry their unsold gatherings on the hot runway. Such picture of the red pools made her think that Nigerian agriculture where were plenty of gaps, became something like a big waste. That’s how Ms Mehta expressed her opinion, speaking about farming in her converted chicken coop the farm.

In the first year poor irrigation and overuse of different fertilizers forced the group to begin everything once again with all new seedlings. The rest were destroyed by poor infrastructure, extremely confusing bureaucracy and complexity of import of basic inputs, as, for example, machinery. Tomato Jos encountered plenty of problems and difficulties in its first planting season, which was last year.

Read more of the story here http://agricnation.com/home/tomato-jos-harvard-business-school-graduate-started-business-nigeria/

Visit www.agricnation.com for more information and news on everything agriculture in Nigeria

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AgricNation:
Tomato Jos is a huge for-profit social activity, which has created the first domestic Nigerian trademark of tomato paste. We work with the full tomato price chain (agriculture, logistics, and also processing). The source of our raw materials comes from the smallholder farmers.
Despite all the difficulties, Mira Mehta, who is 31-year-old graduate from Harvard Business School, did her researches and made the plunge launch of her new start-up, which is called Tomato Jos.

The US businesswoman, who had worked on some Nigerian health projects before (it was in the Clinton Foundation), told that she began thinking about different farming projects after she was driving by something that looked like strange crimson carpets. The farmers had to dry their unsold gatherings on the hot runway. Such picture of the red pools made her think that Nigerian agriculture where were plenty of gaps, became something like a big waste. That’s how Ms Mehta expressed her opinion, speaking about farming in her converted chicken coop the farm.

In the first year poor irrigation and overuse of different fertilizers forced the group to begin everything once again with all new seedlings. The rest were destroyed by poor infrastructure, extremely confusing bureaucracy and complexity of import of basic inputs, as, for example, machinery. Tomato Jos encountered plenty of problems and difficulties in its first planting season, which was last year.

Read more of the story here http://agricnation.com/home/tomato-jos-harvard-business-school-graduate-started-business-nigeria/

Visit www.agricnation.com for more information and news on everything agriculture in Nigeria

Follow us on all social media: @agricnation

Thanks Agric Nation for your quality agric posts and news. Mira can walk to any designated US banks and lay her ideas bear across the counter and she would get adequate support for such ideas. I have a 2012 Ferguson report on the interests of the western world on d opportunities which is available to the Miras of this world but not to our youths apart from sweet rhetorics from our government. Even Kenya support her youths ,and It s such support millions of resourceful Nigerian youths wish for daily here and you can help spread such interventions if you know or have any. God bless and more power to your elbows.

Babacele:
Thanks Agric Nation for your quality agric posts and news. Mira can walk to any designated US banks and lay her ideas bear across the counter and she would get adequate support for such ideas. I have a 2012 Ferguson report on the interests of the western world on d opportunities which is available to the Miras of this world but not to our youths apart from sweet rhetorics from our government. Even Kenya support her youths ,and It s such support millions of resourceful Nigerian youths wish for daily here and you can help spread such interventions if you know or have any. God bless and more power to your elbows.

Thank you so much for your honest feedback and kind words @Babacele

You have a great point. This is exactly the case in East African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and many others have made great strides in developing their agricultural sector and this is because their government and even private companies aid the small scale farmers in producing food for their communities.

Instead in Nigeria, we import almost all our food, from tomato paste, to rice, to even the beans we eat at home. This is highly wasteful and unacceptable because we have enough land and enough farmers to produce all the food we have and even start exporting to other countries.

Sadly, it all comes down to the fact that our government and our banks dont give our farmers loans so they dont have enough money to buy high breed seeds that will produce the best yield, or they dont have access to machines that will increase the rate at which these foods are produced.

How do we encourage our government and banks to invest in our farmers and our youths. Youths in agriculture have the best potential in developing our economy but we need help.

We should not waiver in our efforts to get the attention of these people to help develop the agricultural sector and that is one of the main goals of AgricNation

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Visit www.agricnation.com for more information and news on everything agriculture in Nigeria and Africa