The price of dried onions – one of the most commonly consumed vegetables in the country has surged by about 166 percent as scarcity of the crop hit markets across the country.
Seasonality and high cost of key inputs have reduced Nigeria’s stock level of dried onion bulbs which has forced prices increases in recent months.
“The prices of onions just keep going up daily. We cannot even afford to use a whole bulb to cook a meal anymore because of the high cost,” Rose Ikechukwu, a teacher and a mother of two said.
“It is worrisome that we can no longer afford to buy onions in large quantities and using it the way we like in preparing our meals,” she added.
BusinessDay survey at Mile 12 Market, shows that a 100kg bag of onions now sells for N80,000 as against N30,000 sold a year ago, indicating a 166percent rise in price.
“Prices of onions are usually higher at this time of the year because this is when farmers grow the crop,” said Musa Ibrahim an onion seller in Mile 12 Market.
“Prices of inputs have also doubled and logistic costs in taking the crops to the south – where the market is located have also increased,” Ibrahim said.
“The combination of all these factors has led to a higher surge in prices of the crop,” he added.
Africa’s most populous nation cultivated 938, 417 metric tons of dry onions and 245, 201 metric tons of green onions in 2018, data from the Food and Agricultural Organisation shows.
The country has an average yield per hectare of 15MT for dry onions.
Nigeria records huge postharvest losses in onions production owing to inadequate store facilities and poor road network for vegetables which experts say is costing the country $9billion yearly loss.
Post-harvest losses in Africa’s most populous nation have been estimated to range between 5 and 20 percent for grains; 20 percent for fish and as high as between 50 and 60 percent for tubers, fruits, and vegetables, according to experts.
The crop is not cultivated all year round owing to poor storage facilities.
“We cannot even store our onions because of inadequate storage facilities and this makes us record huge post-harvest losses,” Mohammed Sule a grower of the crop in Kaduna State.
Sule added that onion farmers are unable to improve their livelihoods owing to the huge postharvest losses they record each year as billions of naira are lost in the process.
He called on the Federal Government to support farmers in the area of storage and processing of the crop to increase shelf life.
Onions can be cultivated across the entire state but mainly grown in Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, and Bauchi.
It takes an average of 3 months to grow any variety of onions. Nigeria grows the two major types of onions – bulb and spring.
The bulb onion is much more popular in the country and has three major varieties, red, white, and green, while the spring onion is mainly used for salads and fried rice.
It offers excellent health benefits and a lucrative venture for any aspiring farmer.
Regular consumption of onions helps to reduce the risk of cancers and lower blood sugar levels, as it contains allyl propyl disulfide that helps to reduce the glucose level by increasing the amount of insulin as well as aid digestion.
Globally, India – the largest grower of the crop is also experiencing scarcity as heavy rainfall in August reduced the stock of onions.
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