The onion is a raw vegetable product and is one of the most exported products by Burkina Faso. We made the observation at the fruit and vegetable market in Bobo-Dioulasso on July 11, 2023.
Of all market garden products, the onion is the most produced in Burkina Faso. After Niger, the country of honest men is the 2e onion exporting country with destinations in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo. Souleymane Sawadogo, an onion seller at the fruit and vegetable market in Bobo-Dioulasso, tells us a lot about this trade. ” I started selling onions in 2014 to be financially independent “, he says.
He says he makes a profit and provides for the family because “ that there are customers who come to buy and then send them to other destinations such as Korhogo, Abidjan. We are currently selling the bag between 34,000 FCFA and 35,000 FCFA. We can sell 100 to 300 bags of onions but at the moment we are not able to fill a trailer truck because we don’t have enough onions”.
Difficulties encountered by traders
A Like other activities, Souleymane Sawadogo, did not fail to mention the difficulties he encounters in this sale. ” We are having difficulty in this business. Often, we give bags of onions on credit to customers, but they leave to sell and do not refund or refund half “, he laments. And to Mr. Sawadogo to continue: “ others come back to tell us that the goods have rotted along the way and by extension cannot pay the debt, something that does not suit us”.
In addition to local sales, Mr. Sawadogo tells us that he is helped by two other people for the export of onions to other horizons. ” I export the onion to other localities. We are three in number in this sale. One is in the field to buy, the other has gone to Ivory Coast and I am selling here while waiting for their return”.
A risky export
Speaking of the constraints he goes through in exporting, he tells us ” that’it may have breakdowns en route. Customs controls also often delay us, which makes conservation difficult. Since the onion is raw, it ends up rotting in the bags,” concludes Souleymane Sawadogo. A little further on, we meet Lassina Fahed Kaboré, a ready-to-wear seller converted into an onion exporter since 2007 with his uncle. ” Coming from Côte d’Ivoire, my uncle suggested that I join him for the marketing of onions, something that I accepted because I was bankrupt in the sale of ready-to-wear ” , he suggests. When asked how the export is done at his level, he indicates that ” this trailer (by indexing a loading trailer) for example is for a group of seven people. I can have a hundred bags, I load them for the Ivory Coast.
Meanwhile, I have someone who will collect them there to sell, as long as we agree on a price. I can give him the bag for 35,000 FCFA, even if he resells it at another price, the 35,000 FCFA is rightfully mine”. Listening to him, exporting is very tricky if you don’t have an honest and trustworthy man. “Often you send a hundred sacks of onions to Côte d’Ivoire and whoever is there tells you that everything is rotten, that is to say that he gave the goods on credit and that the debtor has not reimbursed. It can cause you to go bankrupt”. Another difficulty, you can buy the onions in the bush, by the time it arrives in Bobo for other destinations you find that some are spoiled. You have to reverse, sort before packaging them in new bags. In this, you can lose two to four bags », regrets Fahed Kaboré. ” During the rainy season we are obliged to cover with tarpaulins. The onion does not like water but if there is too much heat also it can rot. The truck also gets stuck at times in the fields “, he adds.
A shop ” very profitable »
According to Mr. Kaboré, this trade is very profitable but also risky. ” On a bag you can have a profit of 10,000 to 12,500 FCFA. So if you sell 400 to 500 bags, that’s money. In a year of sales only your life can change positively and negatively if you make losses “. Although exporting onions from Burkina to Côte d’Ivoire, Fahed Kaboré imports them. ” In a short time the Burkina onion will end, we will import from Niger, Egypt, Morocco and Holland “. It should be noted that in Burkina, these traders say they get their supplies from localities such as Bama, Banzon, Kouka, Koudougou, Ouahigouya and Po.
Norrockom Edwige KAM/trainee