Agribusiness Entrepreneurship and Value Chain Management in Kano State’s Tomato Sector

This study examines agribusiness entrepreneurship and the management of value chain relationships in Kano State's commercial tomato sector, one of Nigeria's largest and most economically significant horticultural production systems. Tomato is a critical commodity in Kano's agricultural economy, supporting thousands of smallholder producers, wholesale traders, processors, and retail enterprises, yet the value chain is characterised by high post-harvest losses, volatile price dynamics, and limited entrepreneurial value addition between farm gate and consumer. The study employs a qualitative value chain analysis methodology, mapping the commercial relationships and entrepreneurial activities across five nodes of the Kano tomato value chain: production, assembly, wholesale trade, processing, and retail. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 35 value chain participants including smallholder farmers, bulky buyers, wholesale market operators, two tomato processing enterprise owners, and retail traders. Value chain analysis and thematic coding were applied. Findings reveal that the assembly and wholesale nodes capture disproportionate value relative to producers and processors, reflecting their information asymmetry advantages and working capital power. Entrepreneurial opportunities are most pronounced in processing and cold chain logistics, where value addition potential is high but capital requirements have prevented scale-up. Two tomato processing enterprises in Kano demonstrate the viability of semi-industrial processing for paste and puree but face seasonal raw material price volatility. Recommendations include the development of a Kano State tomato value chain investment facility providing blended finance for processing enterprise development. Keywords: agribusiness, value chain, tomato sector, Kano State, post-harvest entrepreneurship.