
Agenda | Jan 12,2019
Consumers are no strangers to sharp increases in the prices of goods and services, considering the consistent inflationary pressure in the economy. Nonetheless, not many were prepared onions, usually stable and cheap, would also be a victim at such a fast pace. Lately, the vegetable used to prepare nearly all traditional cuisine was selling for up to 60 Br a kilo, twice its cost from two weeks ago and right before the New Year holiday.
More surprising has been that onions had a relatively good harvest in the past year, with yields increasing by 25pc on the 39,000ht of land used for farming the vegetable. Authorities and market insiders attribute the sudden price rise to a combination of factors, including the interruptions of imports from Sudan. Heavy rainfalls in Meqi, a town in the Oromia Regional State, one of the rift valley areas where Addis Abeba sources much of its onions, were not suitable for harvest. Experts see this as a manifestation of two factors that have long ailed the agricultural sector - poor farming techniques and lack of access to market information. This is where farmers fail to anticipate demand and end up over- or underproducing in a given season. There is some evidence to give credence to this theory as the country had a surplus a few months ago that saw a kilogram of onions selling for four Birr. A large amount of onion was dumped in the southern part of the country for lack of demand.
The authorities hasten to bring prices down, pinning their hopes on additional sourcing from Somali Regional State and onion farms in Meqi getting back into shape by next month.
You can read the full story here
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 26,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1117]
Agenda | Jan 12,2019
Agenda | Jun 20,2020
Agenda | Sep 10,2022
Agenda | Apr 22,2022
News Analysis | Sep 10,2021
Featured | Apr 22,2023
Fortune News | Jun 20,2020
Fortune News | Mar 13,2021
Agenda | Mar 12,2022
Agenda | Mar 30,2019
Dec 24 , 2022
Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But...
Jul 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
Nov 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
Nov 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
May 27 , 2023
Tauted as a somnolent giant, Ethiopia's financial scene now stirs, roused by favourab...
May 20 , 2023
The pungent irony wafting from Pretoria last week was hard to miss. Cyril Ramaphosa,...
May 13 , 2023
In March this year, Kamala Harris, the United States Vice President, visited Ghana, T...
May 6 , 2023
The history of the Ethiopian labour movement dates back to the 1940s, marked by perio...