There is no shortage of onion in zambia   – ZNFU

The Zambia nationals farmers union says the report attributed to Shoprite of alleged countrywide shortages of onions on the local market is not only most unfortunate, but totally misleading.

ZNFU has reiterated that the country is awash with onions from both small scale and some large-scale farmers, some of which has gone to waste in storage facilities due to continued importation of the commodity even at the time when government has ordered a stop to onion importation.

ZNFU public relations manager Kelvin Kaleyi states that shoprite is simply ignoring local producers.

Mr. Kaleyi says data shows that onion imports peaked in the period January to march 2022, hence disadvantaging local producers who have painstakingly put in a lot of effort and strides, including making staggering investments in driers, which allows for onions to be harvested during late winter then dried, stored, and made available during the lean period which starts in January every year.

He notes with sadness that the continued importation of commodities that are locally available is tantamount to economic sabotage and is weighing down all the good intentions being put in place by government and farmers to ensure we have improved capacities.

He has since warned that the ZNFU shall not sit back and watch entities bent on proliferating imports arm-twist government into succumbing to notions that the country is experiencing commodity shortages.