TheCable

The Dangote tomato processing factory in Kadawa, Kura local government area of Kano state, is to resume production in February.

The company, which began production in February 2016, had to suspend operations due to shortage of raw materials.

Abdulladir Kaita, managing director of the company, disclosed this in an interview with the NAN on Tuesday in Kano.

He added that preparation for production to resume was at an advanced stage.

Kaita said that the company had to suspend production when most of the tomato farms in about five states were affected by a pest that destroyed all the tomato species.

“We expect that tomato farmers would have produced enough for the company to process, hence our decision to resume production in February,” he said.

According to him, many tomato farmers at the Kadawa, Kura, Garun-Malam and Hadeja-Jama’are irrigation sites are expected to produce enough for the company to process.

“We deliberately decided to resume production in February because we don’t want to create scarcity of the commodity,” Kaita said.

“We want to make sure that there is enough to process so that its price will not go up.”

He said that the company, which had the capacity to process 40 trucks or 1,200 tonnes of fresh tomatoes per day, would soon begin recruitment of additional staff.

“All our trained staff are still with us and we are paying them salary but if there is need to recruit additional staff, we will do so to ensure effective service delivery,” he said.

A pest popularly known as Tuta Absoluta or tomato Ebola destroyed tomato farms in Kano, Jigawa, Plateau, Katsina and Kaduna states.