The Zambian Fruit and Vegetable Traders Association says the banning of the importation of onion is a good move that has come at the wrong time. There is need for correct timing to avoid prices of onions going up when the ban is implemented.
Association President Bernard Sikunyongana said it is premature to ban the importation of onion because the country is not prepared, adding that there is no enough onion in the country, the very reason why imports have been coming in.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Sikunyongana said the country always starts the seasonal importation of onion in February until July when local onion becomes available.
Sikunyongana said it is a good idea to support local farmers but the country [Ministry of Agriculture] has not done its homework. The first step is to encourage local farmers to produce more onion, adding that most local farmers are not aware of the high demand, which period the demand peaks or becomes very high and have not yet invested in dryers.
He added that local farmers have not been equipped with knowledge of how to [commercially] dry the onions and the standards and methods of drying. The country and especially local farmers needs to do a lot of homework and invest more in order to be able to produce good quality onions which can also be exported.
“It is a good move when you want to protect the local farmers, but when there is no farmer or group of farmers who are producing enough to satisfy the demand, who are you protecting and what are you protecting”.
With potatoes, farmers group themselves under Buya Bamba and they produce potatoes, but currently, they are unable to meet the demand. But as for onion, there’s nothing like a buyer group in the country”, he said.
He further said no one has taken up the challenge of informing and training farmers on how they can increase Onion production and coordinate the production and marketing, adding that this is not something that can be done in one year.
He said the association plans to engage the ministry of agriculture concerning the matter so that they can hear its concerns as the country is not ready for this move. Sikunyongana said the association members brings in about 25 trucks of onion into the country every week and currently no farmer in the country can meet that demand.
He added that no local or group of local farmers are able to produce onions that can meet the country’s demand, stock it and dry it properly, as there is no farmer with onion dryers in the country, adding that farmers with onion dryers can be able keep onions for a period of six months.
He said onions cannot be kept for such a long period of time without onion dryers as it would start germinating. This is what needs to be resolved first.
“I can assure you that if they don’t allow the importation of onion; you will be buying one pocket of Onion at about K200 and it will become expensive for the consumer. Potatoes are now going at K120-K140, but if our members can be allowed to import, potatoes prices can come to K70-K80 per pocket”, he said.
He said Buya Bamba has mobilised some “white farmers” who are producing potatoes but the country is not self-sufficient when it comes to onion. He added that these farmers are given seed and after production, Buya Bamba provides a market for them.
“Buya Bamba has gotten a contract from all these chain stores, even us traders used to get potatoes from Buya Bamba for the whole of last year, but it would take one week for you to get your order fulfilled after paying, so meaning the demand is not been met”, he said.
He added that chain stores only get 20% of what they ask for from Buya Bamba, meaning there is no capacity to meet the demand but meanwhile the government has issued a ban, so now the price has gone up because there is nothing in the country. Efforts to get a comment from Buya Bamba to confirm if they have also engaged local farmers proved futile by press time.
