How onions are fairing on the local market

A farmer explains how she markets her onions. Photo by Edgar R Batte.

What you need to know:

  • If you live within the country or the diaspora, you can get the onion delivered to you through a number of companies involved in delivery business, for example Jumia Food which works with a number of stakeholder to provide on-demand delivery services, including organic groceries from local markets.

For several years, the onion has been a staple vegetable in our meals thanks to its dietary and cooking importance. They do not only add flavour to your meal but also carry some restorative components.

The journey of that purple or cream vegetable to your kitchen is a long one, one that starts with a farmer who plants, nurtures and eventually harvests it in anticipation of making a commercial return.
The city dweller might want to know that some of the places known for growing onion and from which they are ferried, include Mbale, Budadiri, Kabale, Kisoro, Fort Portal, Ntungamo and Bwayi, among others.

Major markets
In Kampala, the main wholesale points are Kafumbe Mukasa and St Balikuddembe markets, in downtown Kampala, where trucks loaded with the rounded vegetables line the streets, while traders wait on buyers, many of them from neighbouring markets like Nakasero, Kibuye, Nakawa and Kalerwe.

Under the 3pm sunshine, Jamal Joseph, at the veranda of his lock-up, is busy with buyers, of small and big volumes of onions. He says that beyond the traditional onion growing districts, he also buys from Tanzania, where onions of a favourable size are sold at competitive prices.

Uganda and Tanzania produce good onions although, from observation Joseph explains that, over time, some areas have registered a decline in production owing to fatigued soils.

Prices
“This has affected the size of the onions. Some of the affected areas include parts of Kabale, Ntungamo and Bwayi. As such, a bag of between 100 and 200 kilogrammes costs Shs140,000,” he explains. According to Mansur Ssemango, a trader at St Balikuddembe market, prevailing market prices are dictated and affected by more lucrative markets in Adjumani, Arua which feeds and exports into neighbouring countries such as South Sudan in towns like Juba where fresh produce attracts slightly higher prices.

The sack of the bigger onions fetches between Shs150,000 and Shs200,000 and depending on the packing, where some bags are heavily packed, a trader will pay up to Shs330, 000.

For some wholesale and retail buyers, it is logical to buy bigger onions over many smaller ones. Joseph pays a market price of Shs2,000 per bag he buys and offloads.
He sells to small scale traders such as Eva Lunkuse and Annette Twesigye, who are stationed at Bunga Market, along Ggaba road, on the peripherals of the city.

The duo sells six small onions at Shs1,000 and three to four big onions at the same price, making an average profit of Shs20,000. They sell a small basin of onions for between Shs4,000 Shs5,000, making a profit of between Shs1,000 and Shs1,500 from each basin sold.

Vincent Ndawula, another small scale onion trader, is based at Kalerwe Market. He buys half a sack full of small onions at Shs50,000 from Owino Market and sells a batch of averagely 40 onions at Shs1,000.
The particular type of onion is grown and transported from Kisoro, Kabale, Kasese and Mbale. He can afford to sell at a lower price because he is a roadside vendor.

Shelf life
An onion has a long shelf life which means that no matter where you are located on the globe, you can partake of the vegetable since is it listed as one of the products certified by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.

If you live within the country or the diaspora, you can get the onion delivered to you through a number of companies involved in delivery business, for example Jumia Food which works with a number of stakeholder to provide on-demand delivery services, including organic groceries from local markets.

Best types
It is important to know that the different varieties of onions grown in East Africa include the Red Pinoy, Bombay Red, Red Passion F1 and Jambar F1. Jambar F1 is preferred mostly due to its size and its high yield.