Yauri: Big onion market by the river

If you stand by the river at Yauri in Kebbi state, you begin to notice many things: here are boats and canoes of different sizes, which bring men, women, children and goods from places downstream. A distant speck draws closer and becomes a boat. A boat departs and soon becomes a speck before your gaze. […]

If you stand by the river at Yauri in Kebbi state, you begin to notice many things: here are boats and canoes of different sizes, which bring men, women, children and goods from places downstream. A distant speck draws closer and becomes a boat. A boat departs and soon becomes a speck before your gaze. A cow is seen in one boat, cement bags, chickens and motorcycles in another.
In a corner a young girl sits on the very tip  of a large empty boat and takes a sudden interest in the camera. The place bursts with activity. Fulani milk maids arrive. Then their calabashes are handed over to them as they stand waiting in the water. Everyone smiles. They wade through the water with their calabashes firmly balanced on their heads, as a half smile slowly forms on their faces. At Yauri, a large trade flourishes and it is part of a network which is linked with nearby West African economies, including those of Mali, Niger and Benin Republics, and several other regional economies too.
On the way to Yauri, somebody mentioned a huge boat and canoe making industry, as well as numerous Malian and Nupe craftsmen present, but nobody referred to   an extensive trade in Onions. After interviewing the Malian boat makers, we now left to move along the riverside to get to the Nupe craftsmen. All of a sudden we made a turn to the left and in front of us were countless Onion heaps as well as the enveloping aroma of the crop itself. Some were already bagged, and just about to be loaded onto countless trailers which would now transport same to distant locations.
Onions were being offloaded from vehicles which had just come in from farms in the locality, where the crop had been harvested. It is mentioned too that canoes and large boats often bring the crop from communities further away, which do not have road networks leading into or out of them. The boat is therefore a great asset in these parts.

An economy has formed around the onion trade at Yauri. 1,000 young men work at the market every day, engaged in one form of activity or the other, and all they do revolves around the crop. These include the boys who bag the onions, and those who separate the good ones from the bad. There are boys who sell the covers for the sacks, as well as those who sell the sack itself. Strong men load the sacks onto the trailers. This is strenuous work. Middlemen are present too and they intervene between the farmers and the merchants who buy the crop.
Suleiman Mohammed is Sarkin Albasa or leader of the Onion market, and he says that the market has been in existence since 1950. He adds that the entire Yauri Emirate has very fertile soil which conduces for the cultivation of Onions. His words “We get Onions from Kawara, Kwanji, Inugu, Shabanda, Gebbe, Bukunji, Jargaba, Sargo and Gurwo,all within Yauri emirate. There are thousands of farmers growing onions in these places. The soil here is very fertile and it is good for the cultivation of the crop.” He says “The Onion here is  of first class quality. Even when it is taken to the south, the price differs from those obtained elsewhere. Ours is usually the  more expensive type. The soil here is a mixture of sand and clay, and this is very conducive for the growth of onions.”
Yauri is now a sort of hub from which onions are now transported to many other locations. Mohammed says “From here onions are taken to Niger, Mali, Togo and Ghana. They are also conveyed to Enugu, Asaba, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Benin, Lagos and Aba.”

But Sarkin Albasa adds that onion farmers face a number of challenges “The farmers require fertiliser, engine pumps and loans. But these are not always available.Also,the insecticide needed for  the onion crop is not available, and this is another problem.” If it is harvest time then the price of onion drops, but when it is scarce, the price rises. Sarkin Albasa says “Now, the price for a bag is 17,000 Naira. The price is going down. But 3 weeks ago it cost 27,000 Naira for a bag. The more onions are harvested in large quantities, the greater the possibility that the price will drop. When it is a bit scarce, then the price rises’.It is mentioned that by the month of April, activities die down at the market. But by October the market awakens again.
“There is a rainy season as well as  a  dry season onion crop,” says Mohammed who has about 35 members of his ‘cabinet’ who assist him in governing the market. But there are implications for the onion, in terms of the different methods of transporting the crop. According to him “Prices differ in terms of the way onions are transported either by water or by land. The onions transported from farms to the onion market by water, is cheaper than the one transported by road. Because it is not quite dried, drops of water can make the one transported by water, to  rot quickly. If it is planted, it needs a lot of water.But if water touches it when harvested, it soon begins to rot.” The seeds for the crop are quite costly. He adds “Seeds are sold in tins.They are very small, and there are one thousand in a tin. A  tin or a bottle of onion seeds costs between 3,500 to 5,000 Naira.”

Suleiman Mohammed now gives a history of onion cultivation in the area “In the old north-west state, comprising Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi, it was in Yauri that Onions were first planted and sold in large quantities.” He says “This is the biggest onion market in the state,and the biggest in the old north western state.” Transporting a bag of Onions from Yauri to Onitsha by trailer costs 3,000 Naira, and a trailer can accommodate  600 bags. It costs 1,500 Naira to transport a bag of onions to Lagos by the same means.” Onions come in two basic colours of white and red. Sarkin Albasa argues that the white onion is useful in the treatment of colds, which often occurs in the  dry, dusty harmattan season. It is also useful in the treatment of cuts. The red variety also has medicinal properties, and it is the more popular one across the region, he adds.