In its press release issued last week, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment announced that it has finalised a framework to support the marketing of local onions. “Under the framework, imports of onions will be controlled through an onion import license issued by the Ministry every year to enable the sales of domestic onions,” it explained.
The Trade Ministry says it has already received a number of applications from interested importers for the license. “This year’s license will be issued effective from 1st June to 31st December 2022 and only licensed importers will be allowed to import onions to enable them also buy and sell local onions from farmers throughout the country. This measure is designed to help address the current challenges in the marketing of local onions and minimise the post-harvest losses”.
Further in the release, it advised farmers who currently have onions for sale to inform their agriculture regional directorates or their respective regional agriculture marketing federations the quantities of onions they possess.
“The Ministry will facilitate the licensed importers to work closely with the regional agriculture marketing federations to buy the local onions. This process will be implemented every year to support local farmers to quickly sell their onions to support their livelihoods and also promote local production of onions,” the release concludes.