• The scarcity has affected food vendors who use onions to make vegetable salads preferred by fast foods' consumers.
• West Pokot county has been one of the major suppliers of fresh red onions. They are grown on the slopes and valleys of Ortum in Kipkomo subcounty.
Image: AGATHA NGOTHO
Residents of West Pokot have been forced to dig deeper into their pockets as the prices of bulb onions continue to increase.
There is a shortage of onions and a single bulb is retailing at Sh10. This has never been experienced in the area.
The scarcity has affected food vendors who use onions to make vegetable salads preferred by fast foods' consumers.
West Pokot county has been one of the major suppliers of fresh red onions. They are grown on the slopes and valleys of Ortum in Kipkomo subcounty.
Mercy Cheruto, a grocer at Makutano market in Kapenguria Municipality, said onions have become scarce unlike before when suppliers used to visit the market and plead with them to buy the produce.
She said although the consumption has increased owing to the expansion of the town, the supply has remained low despite the onion farming still being vibrant in the region.
“It is believed that traders from other regions across the country have realised the presence of the best quality onions from this county and are making steady visits to farmers to get the commodity at cheaper prices. This has left local traders with very little to supply,” Cheruto said.
She is now stocking green onions that are in abundance but are more perishable.
Cheruto said before the shortage, those who used to buy green onions were individuals for their domestic consumption, but hotel owners are now the major buyers.
“We used to get huge orders from hotels but with the scarcity and the increased prices, the hoteliers have resorted to green onions to maintain their returns,” she observed.
Mercy Nekesa, a grocer at Chepareria market, said she wrote red onions off her grocery stock because her customers may not be comfortable with price hikes.
Nekesa said she made this decision two months ago due to the shift in supply of the commodity.
She has replaced the bulb onion with green ones, despite their high perishability.
“My recipe for different meals are never free of any onions. I have resorted to the green and they are equally palatable. However, getting very fresh ones is a challenge because they don’t sell as fast,” Priscillah Mnang’at said.
She said with the shrinking supply of red onions, she wants to start her own kitchen garden to enhance her daily dietary needs.
“Green onions are easy to grow and manage because of the availability of propagation materials. With readily available items such as plastic containers, one can produce enough for their daily needs,” Mnang’at said.
Onions are highly nutritious vegetables and have benefits including improved heart health, better blood sugar regulation and increased bone density.
They are also considered delicious, versatile and relatively cheap. They have a range of healthy vitamins, minerals and plant compounds.