<strong>Onions shortage Hits Sierra Leone!!</strong>

By Mustapha Dumbuya

The price of onions has soured in the market due to the shortages of onions in the country. The product is now sold at NLe25 for three small sizes of onions in the market.Sierra Leone iscurrently facing a terrible situation as the scarcity of onions hit the market and causing alarming in various house hold in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has also been experiencing high inflation of commodities food stuff over the five years of president Bio of what his government referred as a global pandemic as the advent of the Russia and Ukraine war.

The shortage of onion and the increase of other food stuff in Sierra Leone had created some mix feeling among the people of Sierra Leone.

The people had less hope to the current government as to whether they could be able minimized and stabilized the increase of food commodities in Sierra Leone as there was huge economic hardship and inflation of food commodities prices during the past five years.

Public Review Newspaper has compared and contrast of prices with the sub-region especially in West Africa countries like Ghana, Liberia, and Guinea to Sierra Leone of the selling price of Kilogram per onion

In nexus to the above, the retail price range for onion in Guinea  as of July 2023 is between XOF 650 and XOF 1250 per Kilogram or between OXF 283.45 and 566.89 per pound that is 10 Kilogram cost US 18$ in Conakry.In Ghana the retail price range Cedi for onions is between GHS 10.75 and GHS 21.51 per kilogram or between GHS 4.88 and 9. 75 pound(lb) that is between US$ 1 and US$ 2 per kilogram or between US 0.45 and 0.91 per pound (lb.) in Ghana which is 10kilogram is about 10 to US 15$.

In Sierra Leone the retail price range for onion is between SLL15250 and SLL37500 per kilogram or between SLL916.1 and SLL17006.8 per pound (lb) which is 10 kilogram is about 25 to 27.9 US$. Moreover, having compared and contrast amongst the some sub-region countries like Guinea and Ghana, you will found out that Sierra Leone has the highest price as 10 kilogram of onion cost over 25 United State Dollars which is far away from others countries.

The skyrocket and shortage of onion in Sierra Leone will not only affect Sierra Leones but it will also course an economic hardship.

BarattShukhnani is an Indian Business Man whoimported onion in Sierra Leone stated that there are sufficient onions in Holland where they used to buy but they had increase the price which leads to the shortage.

According to him, the business had only left with big business tycoons like the Peecee and Sons, Besto Company and the Sierra Frozen Company Limited who are the largest suppliers of fresh food including onion in Sierra Leone. He also noted that government should also reduce more tax levied on food commodities for business not run in to lost.