The European Union-backed Agriculture Financing Initiative (AgriFI) has committed a $2.5 million investment to Tomato Jos Inc., a northern Nigeria-based tomato farming and processing company, in a move expected to strengthen local production, expand smallholder farmer participation and improve the country’s tomato value chain.
The investment, made through the AgriFI ACP Regional Window and managed by EDFI Management Company (EDFI MC), will support Tomato Jos’ expansion of its farming and processing operations, including factory upgrades, new packaging equipment and increased deployment of drip irrigation.
The financing is also expected to help the company reduce production and energy costs while expanding its range of locally produced tomato products for the Nigerian market.
Tomato Jos operates an integrated business model that combines commercial tomato farming, sourcing from smallholder farmers and local processing of fresh tomatoes into packaged tomato paste.
The company currently sources more than half of its raw materials from smallholder farmers in Kaduna State, creating a direct link between local agricultural production and the domestic processed-food market.
The European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, said the investment demonstrated the potential of private-sector financing to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural value chains while creating economic opportunities for farmers.
Mignot said Nigeria’s agricultural sector had significant potential to contribute to employment creation, food security and the development of more resilient local value chains.
He said the AgriFI investment would support a Nigerian enterprise creating value locally “from farm to shelf”, while reducing post-harvest losses and expanding market opportunities for smallholder farmers, particularly women.
The investment comes amid efforts to improve domestic agricultural production and processing, with the Tomato Jos project targeting higher volumes of locally grown tomatoes and greater utilisation of domestic raw materials.
According to the company, its annual fresh-tomato production is expected to rise from slightly above 4,500 tonnes currently to about 16,000 tonnes by 2029.
The company also plans to increase the number of smallholder farmers it engages from an estimated 500 to 1,500 over the same period.
It further projects that income per participating farmer could increase by more than 150 per cent between 2024 and 2029, reflecting its planned expansion and deeper integration with farming communities.
EDFI MC Chief Executive Officer, Rodrigo Madrazo, said Tomato Jos’ integrated model could provide farmers with more reliable market access while supporting them with inputs, irrigation, land and technical assistance.
He said the AgriFI financing would allow the company to make targeted investments in irrigation and packaging capacity, expand its product offering and reduce production costs.
Madrazo added that the investment could also help attract additional private capital as the company moves into its next phase of growth.
For Tomato Jos, the funding is expected to support expansion beyond its existing consumer products, with the company planning to develop new product formats and target additional customer segments, including business-to-business and hospitality, restaurant and catering customers.
Chief Executive Officer of Tomato Jos Inc., Mira Mehta, said the investment would help the company build a more resilient tomato value chain in northern Nigeria.
Mehta said the company intended to use the financing to increase production and market reach while reducing energy consumption and its carbon footprint.
She added that Tomato Jos’ objective was to make locally produced, high-quality tomato paste more accessible to Nigerian consumers while creating more reliable economic opportunities for farming communities.
Beyond increasing production, the investment is expected to contribute to reducing post-harvest losses by providing a local market for fresh tomatoes that might otherwise deteriorate before reaching consumers.
The company said its local processing model would also contribute to food security and import substitution by increasing the availability of domestically processed tomato products.
The investment is expected to have a wider financing effect, with Tomato Jos projecting that it could help catalyse a $6 million equity round in 2028.
According to the investment partners, this represents an anticipated leverage factor of 3.2 times, reflecting the objective of using development finance to attract additional private-sector capital into agriculture.
The initiative is being implemented under AgriFI, an EU-funded impact investment facility managed by EDFI Management Company, which focuses on mobilising sustainable investment in agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries.
AgriFI places particular emphasis on business models that integrate smallholder farmers into formal agricultural value chains.
Its ACP Regional Window is specifically designed to support agricultural enterprises operating in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, with the programme receiving support from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States Secretariat.
The Tomato Jos investment therefore combines commercial expansion with development objectives, including smallholder inclusion, local processing, climate-smart production and lower-carbon operations.
