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- The founder’s journey began with a chance visit to Nigeria, where she discovered large volumes of tomatoes going to waste due to poor storage and processing systems.
- Identifying a gap in the agricultural value chain, she launched a venture focused on improving tomato production and reducing post-harvest losses.
- The business has since raised over $18 million, enabling investment in irrigation, farming operations and processing infrastructure.
- Her work has supported thousands of local farmers, helping to increase yields, boost incomes and strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem.
A chance visit to Nigeria led to an unexpected discovery that would eventually shape a thriving agribusiness. In an interview, Mira Mehta, founder of Tomato Jos, shared how what began as a personal search for purpose turned into a mission to tackle massive tomato waste across the country.
A Journey That Started by Chance
Mehta did not originally move to Nigeria to start a business. She left a well-paying finance job in the United States, feeling unfulfilled despite the stability it offered.
Her decision to embrace uncertainty led her to Nigeria through a role with a non-profit organisation.
At first, she was based in Abuja, but quickly realised it did not reflect the full reality of the country. Encouraged to explore further, she travelled beyond the capital and encountered a major problem that would define her work.
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During her time in rural farming communities, Mehta noticed large quantities of tomatoes going to waste under the sun. The issue was not a lack of production, but poor processing and storage systems.
This observation revealed a critical gap in Nigeria’s agricultural value chain, where farmers were losing significant portions of their harvest due to limited infrastructure.
(Read Also: Turning Farming into a Digital Marketplace: How Cubeseed is reshaping African Agriculture)
Building a Solution from Scratch
Determined to address the problem, Mehta launched Tomato Jos in 2014, starting with a $25,000 prize.
What began as a small farming experiment has since evolved into a company focused on improving tomato production and processing.
Over time, the business raised more than $18 million to build irrigation systems and a tomato processing plant, helping to reduce post-harvest losses and improve efficiency.
Impact on Farmers and the Industry
Through Tomato Jos, Mehta has supported over 10,000 farmers, many of them women, by improving yields and increasing their incomes.
Her work highlights a broader lesson. Solving agricultural challenges in Nigeria is not only about growing more crops, but also about fixing the systems that connect farmers to markets.
