The Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria has explained that the 2024 floods and climate change were responsible for the recent hike in the price of onions.
The National President of the Association, Mr Aliyu Isah, disclosed this, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Lagos.
He explained that the floods that ravaged various parts of Northern Nigeria last year destroyed many onion farms, hence the upsurge in the price of onions and scarcity that was witnessed from Q4 2024 into the new year
NAN reported that a bag of onions currently sells for between N250,000 and N270,000 as against N70,000 and N90,000 per bag in previous quarters. A medium-sized bulb of the produce reportedly sells at N500 as against N50 per bulb.
Isah blamed the hike in onion price on the low production of the produce as a result of the floods and other factors such as climate change.
“What caused the scarcity and high cost of onions from the last quarter of 2024 till now is as a result of the flooding.
“The flooding of 2024 that ravaged all our onion farms, from the producing bed of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, up to Adamawa states resulted in the scarcity of the produce.
“We also had the problem affecting onion production with the release of water from dams from the northern states.
“In Sokoto, the water was released from Goroyo Dam, and when it got to a certain level it affected the onion beds from Sokoto, Kebbi and up to Zamfara states.
“Also, we had the breakage of dams in Borno State which destroyed our onion farmlands,” Aliyu said.
Climate change and poor storage also affected yields
On the effect of climate change, he said extended rainfall was witnessed last year and it affected onion farmers. He added that there was a disease outbreak that also contributed to the low production.
“The second issue affecting scarcity and the high cost of onions is that we experienced an extended and high level of rainfall up north in 2024.
“So, the high amount of rainfall resulted in high humidity which resulted in a disease outbreak popularly called Downy Mildew, which destroyed most of our onion farms at various stages of cultivation.
“Some onion farms were affected at seedling stage, some at nursery stage, some when we were even about to harvest the onion,” the association president said.
He further explained that onion seedlings were scarce last year and that also affected yields. He alleged that some “unpatriotic Nigerians imported adulterated onion seed into the country and now our farmers are counting their losses because they planted a seed that cannot produce a bulb.”
He continued: “The third is the issue of unavailability of the produce due to lack of improved onion seedlings. “The factors of flooding and climate change have affected and disrupted our local seed production system. We do not have sufficient and quality onion seedlings, so we now rely on hybrid seeds that we import from foreign countries.
“The issue of flooding really affected onion seed production so local farmers could not get enough seed to buy. This situation also resulted in the unavailability of onions. From the fourth quarter of 2024, our farmers with their money, could not see seed to buy.
“This also culminated to a serious problem where some unpatriotic Nigeria imported adulterated onion seed into the country and now our farmers are counting their losses because they planted a seed that cannot produce a bulb,” he said.
Aliyu also noted that there were inadequate storage facilities and technology for onion farmers in the country. This, according to him contributed to the low production that led to the surge in onion prices.
“Another contributory factor to scarcity and price surge of onions is post-harvest losses.
“That even when we harvest enough during the season because we lack improved technology of onion storage, we are being faced with more than 50 per cent post-harvest losses.
“This is to say that more than half of what we produce, we lose it after harvest. So, all these are part of the problem that is making the onions to be expensive,” Aliyu said.
What you should know
- Nairametrics reported in November 2024 that the National Onion Producers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN) warned of the potential hike in the price of onions as a result of post-harvest losses.
- NOPPMAN attributed these losses to high production costs, climate challenges, and poor storage infrastructure.
