tomato |
In a nation where much of the tomato
growing is done by small farmers, implementing a wide-scale program to
eradicate a pest that has devastated the crop is difficult. But one
Canadian company is looking for ways to help.
Nigeria’s
oil-heavy economy has been roiled lately – as it faces the same price
pressures as other petroleum-producing nations, its oil infrastructure
has been cut down by attacks from militant groups. Some business leaders
and politicians have suggested turning to agriculture to steer Africa’s biggest economy back on track. But there are problems there for farming, too.
Tomatoes are a staple in Nigerian diets, but the country’s crops have been devastated by the arrival of Tuta absoluta, a species of South American moth whose larvae feed on tomato plants (below). In some regions of the country, it’s been reported that more than 90 per cent of the latest tomato crop has been ruined, and the result is ratcheting up prices for consumers.
Thomas Canning (Maidstone) Ltd., which produces Thomas’ Utopia Brand
canned tomatoes in Ontario’s tomato-rich Essex County, saw potential in
Nigeria’s tomato sector half a decade ago, and estimates the country is
now responsible for 10 to 15 per cent of its business. Not only does
the company import their canned-tomato products – it also conducts
food-safety courses on the ground there. And with the rise of the
crop-killing moth – informally dubbed “tomato Ebola” – the Nigerian
Agricultural Quarantine Service has begun discussions with Thomas
Canning to find solutions to reduce harm from the pest.
The Globe and Mail spoke with Bill Thomas, the company’s chief executive, by phone.
How did you first start doing business in Nigeria?
The
Canadian market, in terms of growth for tomato products, is not a large
market. Think of tomatoes as a commodity – they’re produced in the U.S.
and in Italy and other parts of the world. We want to grow our
business, but if we hit south, to the U.S., the scope of production
makes it difficult for us to compete.
The
countries that are the best choice already consume tomatoes and
understand the product. Nigeria has a port in Lagos, and access to other
countries – so selling in Nigeria is a logical entry point to West
Africa.
Nigeria imports an awful lot of tomatoes and tomato paste, right?
As
in any developing country, agriculture is in the hands of a lot of
small farmers. The government has seen the importance of agriculture in
terms of creating jobs, and working in partnerships with other countries
in trying to develop that sector for long-term stability. But despite
the fact that they grow a lot of tomatoes themselves, they don’t have a
stable situation.
It’s a staple in the
diet there. A lot of it gets wasted, because of the heat. There are
numbers like 60 to 70 per cent of that crop gets wasted and not used.
Nigeria would very much like in the long term to be self-sustaining in
terms of tomato production, but they still need imports for quite a
while yet because of that gap. There are times during the dryer season
in which crop yields can be lower, and they fall back on canned products
at that time.
Do you just import your product to Nigeria?
The
other thing we do is food safety. It’s important for those people that
buy our products. Let’s say they’re used in hotels – we would ship
tomato product to a hotel, and show them there are safe ways to handle
it. It’s not just about our products. We do food safety training in
conjunction with their department of agriculture. That has become a part
of our business in Africa.
I’m not
saying this is huge; a lot of it is a service, but there is a fee for
it, and we make a little bit in the end. It benefits doing business in
that part of the world. If you can assemble 150 people in the room from
across the food industry, you have an opportunity to do food safety
training, but also make connections and grow your business.
What’s happening with Nigeria’s tomato crops and the “tomato Ebola” moth?
It’s
not been a problem in West Africa until now. As a moth, it lays its
eggs on a tomato plant, and when those eggs hatch, larvae bore into the
plant, and it’s going to kill the plant. It’s small, but sheer numbers
create the problem. And in countries that are faced with this problem,
they usually can control it. They have an increase in pesticide use,
plus programs that help minimize spread, like crop rotation, not
providing a host for the insect in the same field. There are ways of
managing it.
But both of these things
provide a particular challenge in regions like Africa where there are
large numbers of small farmers. Pesticide use on large farms, with
people who are used to using them, are much safer for people applying
the pesticide and people consuming the product. But how can you get to
every small farmer to explain how to use something?
How are you doing this?
They’ve
asked us as a company to contribute what we can, in terms of helping
control the problem. To me, it means, how can we handle this
holistically? How do you develop a program? It has to be a few, simple
measures that everybody can implement in order to reduce the populations
of the insect. I don’t have all the answers, but being in agriculture,
we have successfully controlled similar problems in the past.
Like through crop rotation and careful use of pesticides?
Exactly.
Good management practices. If you’re going to use a pesticide, what is
the safest possible pesticide to use? That type of research can minimize
risk. But there has to be a component of education as well. And how do
you deliver that? Having connections within agriculture in Nigeria can
help you access a network. There have to be workshops set up to help
communities resolve the problem.
But
that’s part of the challenge to figure out: What is the best way to
resolve this? If you think what works in North America works in the rest
of the world, you’re in trouble. What’s primary is: What can we do in
the short term to alleviate the problems, so Nigeria can continue to
grow a staple crop?
When it’s not in crisis, how would you describe Nigeria as a market for Canadian businesses?
Canada
has a good deal of respect as a country. Canada is a marketing tool,
because there’s a good deal of interest in Canada and Canadian products.
To a large extent, people don’t even know tomatoes can be produced in
Canada. It’s not the most romantic industry to be in, tomato production,
but how did California and Italy get so big? If we can get the rest of
the world discussing what we do, that’s only going to help everybody.
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