Onion sellers in Ghaha have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene to ensure their locked-up trucks from Niger are released.
They feared that the prices of onions would shoot up if the trucks are not released.
Truckloads of onions were locked up at Ghana’s border to the North due to the military takeover in Niger which results in ECOWAS sanctions on Niger.
The onion drivers were stranded for days at the border due to the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Niger.
The leader of the Accra Onion Importer Association Sani Abubakar said the prices of onions are expected to shoot up and possibly result in scarcity.
He told TV3’s Enyonam Haliga that “For now, we are at a loss, we have a lot of trucks stuck at the border. Some are at the Mali border, Burkina Faso, and Benin so we are appealing to the government to intervene. If care is not taken we are going to sell one bag of onion at 3000 cedis.”
Currently, a boag of onion is sold between ¢1300 and ¢25,000 but previously sold for ¢1000 cedis.
In relation to this situation, the Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Dr Charles Nyaaba said the political instability in Niger will definitely affect the supply of onions and other commodities to Ghana.
Niger coup: Onion sellers in Ghana to sell a bag of onion for GH¢3000 if…
Dr Nyaaba also stated that the situation in Niger would affect the supply of livestock to Ghana.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Tuesday, August 8, he said “In recent times we get most of our food commodities from our neighbouring countries. When you take the various types of vegetables like tomatoes, pepper, and onions, we get them from Burkina Faso and some from Togo. The onions are specifically from Niger. When you take livestock like cattle, goat sheep, we also get them from the same areas.
“So obviously this is going to have a serious impact on the supply of those commodities in our market.”
Mr. Nyaaba also indicated that although Ghanaian farmers are producing these commodities, the local production is not enough to meet the demand on the market, hence the reliance on neighboring countries.
He said “In Ghana, it is not the case that we don’t have the potential to produce the same. When you take onions, which we are getting 100 percent from Niger, we also get seeds from Niger.
“…When there is no water, you can’t produce onions. So if you look at the farmers who produce onions, most of them are from the White Volta basin around Bawku, Zebilla, Bolgatanga, they produce the bulk of the onions, but is still highly insignificant to meet our consumption.”