How traders make money selling onions

Onion selling has proven to be lucrative for retailers in the business of selling food crops in the markets. Daily Trust on Sunday spoke with some sellers in Abuja, whose investment in onion business is yielding results. Mr Nuru said he gets his bags of onion at N18,000 or N19,000 for the big sized ones […]

Onion selling has proven to be lucrative for retailers in the business of selling food crops in the markets.

Daily Trust on Sunday spoke with some sellers in Abuja, whose investment in onion business is yielding results.

Mr Nuru said he gets his bags of onion at N18,000 or N19,000 for the big sized ones while the medium size is N15,000 per bag. “The transportation fare to bring it from Mararaba to Utako market is N700 per sack,” he said.

 “I can get between 10 and 20 small baskets per sack depending on how big or small the onions are. I sell in basket and I can also sell in bags depending on what the customers need. A basket is N1,200.  From one sack, I make a gain of N7,000,” he said.

Malam Ega is also a retail food seller in Utako market. “I get my own onions from Dei-dei. I get one sack of the big sized onion for N12,000, while the small size is N13,000. The small size is more expensive than the big size because the onions is usually many when it comes in small sizes and I sell my small basket for N1,000.”

Onion has numerous health benefits and its simplicity of cultivation makes it a profitable endeavour for farmers. The crop is grown mostly in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Borno, Plateau and Kebbi states.

Onions also provide health benefits like reducing the risk of various types of cancer, increasing mood, and maintaining skin and hair health.