By: Mercy Nimo
Over a thousand bags of rotten onions have been disposed of at the refuse dump at Adjen Kotoku due to low patronage and short life span. The sellers say this year has been the worst of its kind, and they are calling on the Ministry of Agriculture and relevant agencies to help find solutions to the short shelf life of onions and other agricultural produce in the country.
It was a devastating scene at the Adjen Kotoku market as several bags of onions completely rotted and were transported to the dumping site. Shelves were virtually empty, and sellers were left helpless, not knowing what to do or how to control the rapid destruction of their goods.
The entire market was engulfed in stench emanating from the massively rotten onions. According to the traders, the onions could not last for a week on the shelves; they were rapidly getting rotten each passing day. One of the traders, Alhaji Issaka Zeba, said over a thousand bags of rotten onions are sent to the dumping site every week.
“We have incurred huge losses. Last week alone, we packed five articulator trucks of rotten onions to the refuse dump and each articulator truck carried three hundred and fifty bags of the onions,” he lamented.
Reaching the dumping site also presented an unhealthy scene where some adults and children were busy scavenging the refuse dump, cleaning up discarded onions, and reselling them to unsuspecting consumers.
One trader, Comfort Boafo, expressing her frustrations, mentioned that the road leading to the market is also in a bad state, which is discouraging many people from coming to the market to buy.
“The road leading to the market is full of potholes most people do not frequent the market, patronage is very low and our goods often get spoiled, we are pleading to the government to help fix our road to enhance business,” she added.
The spokesman for the traders, Yakubu Kpeniba, said most of the traders are compelled to import onions from other countries because Ghanaian farmers are not able to meet the needs and demands of the market.
“I farm and sell and I would say we need help from the Agric ministry, the onions are getting rotten on the farms and also at the market. We do not know the cause of the rapid destruction of our onions. I have been in this agri business over twenty-five years and this year’s destruction is the worst of its kind, the government through the Agric ministry should help us get solutions to this crisis,” he stressed.
