Benguela – The lack of a domestic market led to a loss of 300 tons of tomatoes at Indu-Agri farm, located in the commune of Dombe Grande, municipality of Baía Farta, in the province of Benguela.
According to businessman António Noé, owner of that farm, dedicated to vegetable production, these losses, estimated at Akz 40 million (US$43.786,8), are the result of the mismatch between supply and demand.
As the cultivated area is over 14 hectares, with a predicted harvest of 700 tons, the farmer also fears that these losses could exceed 300 tons.
“We still have tomatoes spoiling in the field”, he reveals, adding that, if there is financing, the path would be transformation, with the aim of offering the consumer a quality product.
According to António Noé, the company Indu-Agri's investments amounted to around Akz 80 million (US$87.573,6) for tomato production, of which around 50% was ruined due to difficulties in sales.
As he mentioned, of the more than Akz 70 million (US$76.626,9) expected in terms of return, the company only managed to get Akz 25 million (US$27.366,8) of the investment, regretting the financial losses.
In any case, he confirms that the high tomato production aims, in essence, to respond to a call from government authorities and domestic consumption is absorbing most of it.
In his opinion, the supply is so great that it reduced demand, as all producers invested in tomatoes, in their eagerness to obtain some income, which ended up flooding the market.
This scenario, he complains, ended up influencing the price. For example, a box of 20 kilos of tomatoes, initially expected to cost Akz 5 thousand (US$5), dropped to Akz 1.000 (US$1) now.
Due to this cyclical waste in tomato production, António Noé proposes the creation of processing factories as a solution, in order to respond to demand, thus avoiding the discrepancy between supply and demand.
JH/CRB/CF/jmc
