Onion Farming: A Lucrative Area of Investment

Have you ever wondered why onions are used in preparing almost every meal in most households in Kenya? Have you ever gone to the groceries market and onions fail to appear on your shopping list? If you understand or relate to what I am saying then it is time to act on something that will automatically change your financial situation, which is investing in onions.

As I was growing up, my mum would prefer using onions when cooking as compared to other ingredients. I later on came to learn that onion makes the food delicious even in the absence of other ingredients like tomatoes. Nearly every meal of the average Kenyan has to have onions as part of the ingredients.

Onions are among the most consumed vegetables in the country and offer higher profit margins than most other horticultural crops. They also have a longer shelf life (up to three months) than crops like tomatoes and potatoes. And the best part is that the onion market in Kenya is far from saturated.

It is saddening that despite the high demand of onions in the country, almost 50 percent of it is imported from Tanzania into the Kenyan market. Is it that we are not in a position to produce it ourselves?

If we concentrate on dry onions. A 13-kilogram net of dry onions is currently retailing differently across the country. In Nairobi and Kisumu, it is being sold at 910 shillings respectively, 600 shillings in Mombasa, 850 shillings in Nakuru, 840 shillings in Eldoret, 700 shillings in Imenti, 750 shillings in Kitale and 5,000 shillings in Garissa.

Comparing the market prices across the stated towns, Garissa has the highest market price by more than 4,000 of which other markets are retailing at. Such an area needs more supply of the commodity so that residents are able to be in a position to afford it.

Onions have ready markets at all times and they are not seasonal. This is to say that is well planned, one can be getting returns all year round from the supply. They are harvested after every three months, thus in one year, there will be three harvesting seasons.

Related: Watermelon Farming- A Lucrative Area to Invest In