Onion price jumps 900% to N300,000 in 6 months

By Cynthia Alo The price of a 120kg bag of onions jumped from N30,000 in April 2026, to about N300,000 in October representing a 900 percent increase in six months. National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN) attributed the increase to inadequate storage facilities and fire outbreaks in warehouses in the North which contributed to post-harvest losses of more than 51 percent within the period.

A Vanguard AgroBiz market survey shows that the price of a big sack of fresh onions at Mile 12 Lagos international market is N300,000, while the dried one is between N350,000 to N380,000 as of last week. In an interview with Vanguard AgroBiz, the National President of NOPPMAN, Aliyu Isah, said the price surge was not necessarily due to inadequate national production, but rather the loss of a significant proportion of harvested onions before the next production season.

“It’s not that we did not produce enough for the country, but we lost more than 51% from April to October,” he said. Isah attributed the losses to poor storage facilities, fires that destroyed onions in local storage centres and the disruption caused by unsuitable seeds introduced into Nigeria during the 2024–2025 growing season. He said the seed, reportedly brought in from Algeria, was unsuitable for Nigeria’s farming system and caused substantial losses to farmers’ investments.

According to him, the seed crisis alone resulted in losses estimated at nearly N100bn, while the sector needed government intervention to prevent the disruption from worsening into a supply shortage. He said government intervention was necessary when a crisis affected an agricultural subsector, warning that failure to address the underlying problems could deepen losses in subsequent seasons.

Isah said the Ministry of Agriculture had discussed support for the onion subsector with the Bank of Agriculture and the Nigerian Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), regarding seed supply and farm inputs. He said the association had yet to receive the proposed intervention at the time of the interview, although discussions were ongoing. The support, he added, should help farmers restore production and prevent a repeat of the crisis.

Looking ahead, Isah expects supplies from Sokoto to begin around November and December, followed by Aliero in Kebbi State from late December to January. The main harvest season is expected around March and April. He expressed optimism that the incoming harvest would ease prices, but said better storage facilities and timely government support were needed to reduce losses and prevent future shortages.