Onion shortage hits Daraja Mbili Market in Kisii

Sep 15, 2023 - 14:12

Sacks of onions being sold at Daraja Mbili market stores in Kisii town, Kisii County on September 15. A similar sack would previously cost Sh1000 to get your goods across the Kenya/Tanzania border but now, it is Sh.27,000.

Kisii,

Friday, September 15 2023

KNA by Warren Christopher/Simon Nyabuto

Onion traders at Daraja Mbili market are grappling with a sharp rise in the prices of the commodity with a kilogram of bulb onion retailing at Sh100 from Sh50 and a sack of 43 kilograms going for Sh6300.

According to Winnie Kemunto, a trader at the market, this increase in onion prices has been brought about by the shortage of supply in the market, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming months.

Kemunto said that due to the shortage of onions in the store, they are forced to buy them in bulk to keep the demand manageable.

William Magoshu, another onion trader, attributed the shortage in onion supply to the expensive seeds, herbicides, and lack of fertilizer for farmers to boost the production of onions.

Magoshu added that there is high taxation of goods at the borders and traders who get their onion supply from Tanzania have faced challenges while accessing the commodity.

“Apart from little rain that causes the shortage of onions, our goods are being highly taxed at the borders, it used to cost Sh1000 to get your goods across the border but now, it is a sum of Ksh.27,000 which is unaffordable for most traders,” he noted.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report (2014), 50 percent of the red onions in Kenya are imported from Tanzania even though Kenyan farmers have been trying to address the demand and close the supply gap.

Meanwhile, Irish potato traders in the same market have experienced fluctuation in the prices of the commodity.

Samuel Maina, an Irish potato wholesaler, noted that early this year, a 90-kilogram sack of potatoes was selling at Sh7000 to Sh 7500, but in the past two months, the price dropped to Sh.2500 to Sh3000.

Beginning of September, Maina said the price sky-rocketed with the selling price ranging from Sh5000 to Sh.6000 thereby becoming a burden to their customers.

Maina urged the county and national governments to supply farmers with fertilizers so that potato farmers who have prepared their farms can commence planting since it has started raining in most parts of the country.

Courtesy; KNA