FactCheck: Has a Bag of Onions Dropped to D500 as Claimed by Dr. Ceesay?

Information Minister Dr Ismaila Ceesay © The Fatu Network

By Haddy Ceesay,

While The Gambia’s Information Minister claimed that fiscal and monetary policies have led to a dramatic reduction in onion prices, our investigation found that the actual market prices are still much higher, undermining the minister’s statement.

Claim:
Speaking live on Fatu Network, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, the Minister for Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, claimed that the government has “come up with fiscal and monetary policies to make it D900 in the market. A bag of onions was almost D1,200; now you can get it for D400 to D500.”

You can watch Dr. Ceesay's statement starting from the 1 hour, 35 minutes, and 52 seconds mark at this link.

Dr Ceesay at West Coast Radio © CTWPG

FactCheck:
Our FactCheck research indicates that The Gambia consumes approximately 25,000 metric tonnes of onions annually, yet only 6,000 metric tonnes are produced locally. The remaining demand is filled with imported onions, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

A report from the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) states that the country produces just “20% of its total onion consumption.” Even this local production faces challenges, as a significant portion is lost before producers can turn a profit.

The FAO report highlights several obstacles in closing the 80% production gap, including “limited availability of quality seeds, pests and disease prevalence, exacerbated by storage losses of 20 to 50 percent, depending upon location, environment, prevalent diseases, and casual agents.”

However, this situation is expected to improve. According to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), three onion curing and storage facilities have been built in Berefet (West Coast Region), Nanaba, and Jahuar Mandinka (Central River Region), with two additional facilities under construction in Kiang Nema and Pakau Njogu.

Each facility is capable of storing 20 tons of onions at a time. Below are images from WACOMP’s report showing one of these onion curing facilities.

Market Survey:
To verify the market prices, our reporter conducted a market survey to ascertain the market prices of onions in the Greater Banjul Area. The survey started by calling local onion sellers to ascertain if they were selling onions and was informed by Sibo’s Farm, Gambia Farm, and Tresor Women Warriors that they hadn’t started selling locally produced onions yet.

Our reporter visited multiple markets throughout the country, and here are the results;

To cover a wider area within the West Coast Region our reporter contacted market vendors in Bakau and Brikama.

According to local onion producers engaged during our price survey, local onions are currently not available in the market, causing an increase in the price of imported onions. Two local onion producers we spoke to informed our medium that local onions will be available from the end of the month.

An expert from WACOMP confirmed that local onions would flood the market towards the end of February or beginning of March, which could bring prices down. The seasonality of The Gambia’s onion production poses a challenge, as during the off-season, imported onions dominate the market.

To address this, more curing and storage facilities are needed nationwide, and introducing onion varieties that can be grown year-round would enhance local production throughout the year.

Verdict:
Our research found that the price of a bag of onions in the Greater Banjul Area ranges between D1,100 and D1,200. Wholesale prices may decrease to D1,050 when purchasing more than 50 bags.

Therefore, the claim made by Information Minister Dr. Ismaila Ceesay that the price of a bag of onions has dropped to D500 is FALSE.