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Expected Entry Of Tanzania Onions into Kenyan Market Slumps Prices by 12%

BY Lynnet Okumu · June 7, 2022 12:06 pm

KEY POINTS

The fall comes when Kenyan farmers had been hoarding the commodity to create an artificial shortage in anticipation of better prices in May 2022.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The price of a small sack of onions (10kg) that was going for 1,200 shillings is expected to drop to 1,000 shillings, according to traders at Marikiti market in Nairobi.

The cost of onions has fallen 12 percent low as local growers and sellers engage in mass selloffs to ensure they do not experience excess losses when the Tanzanian onions finally hit the Kenyan market.

This fall comes when Kenyan farmers had been hoarding the commodity to create an artificial shortage in anticipation of better prices in May 2022.

It was a seller’s market with brokers futilely trying to push down onion farm gate prices, and prices had been anticipated to hit the 100 mark by the end of May,” Joshua Mamwaka, a wholesaler at Nairobi’s Marikiti market, said.

Tanzania onions sell like hot cake in Kenya and are often called the “red gold” by traders. They are preferred over the local onions in markets even by consumers. Kenyan farmers often complain that Tanzania onions flood the market leading to losses.

A spot check at the fresh vegetable market in Nairobi shows that dry onions are retailing at an average price of 107.83 shillings per kilogram.

Medium-sized onions that sold for 10 shillings now retail at 5 shillings at the Fig Tree market in Nairobi. Two small onions now cost 5 shillings compared to last month when onions retailed at 10 shillings and above.

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The price of a small sack of onions (10kg) that was going for 1,200 shillings is expected to drop to 1,000 shillings, according to traders at Marikiti market in Nairobi.

However, white onions have been amongst the best market performers holding steady at 100 shillings per kilogram.

Due to market oversupply, potatoes and French beans are down about 30 percent. Green capsicums are also down 25 percent.

Compared to local garlic, which has held its price, imported garlic has been marked as an underperformer, falling 15 percent.

Meanwhile, a spot check of Nairobi’s Muthurwa market, tomato oversupply caused by both local growers and the entry of Ethiopian tomatoes has seen wholesale prices remain relatively stagnant at 6,000 shillings for a 100-kilogram turbo box.

According to data from the Kenya Agricultural Market Information System (KAMIS), the wholesale price of dry maize is highest in Nairobi’s Nyamakima at 106 shillings, with the retail price at 123.33 shillings. Wholesale prices were lowest in Kajiado at 38 shillings.

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