By AdamaMakasuba
Gambia Moral Congress leader has called on government to place immediate embargo on imports of onions to the country as there are sufficient locally produced onions in the country for consumption.
“As I travelled extensively to every settlement in Western Wulli, currently, the available supply of locally produced onions exceeds demand within the district.
“It means Wulli West is at the moment self-sufficient in onion production. Further, it means that the URR alone, including Wulli West, has the potential to supply onions to the whole country, potentially rendering the nation self-sufficient in onion production, putting an end to onion importation,” he said.
According to him, storage and marketing are the main challenges. This is where formal intervention is needed for sustainability – a partnership between stakeholders such as the producer communities.
“Wulli West is a big contributor to the regional URR economy. An estimated minimum of five million Dalasis is transacted on each lumo day once a week at SareNgai – potentially a whopping 20 million Dalasi trade volume per month. This predominantly Fulani frontier village trading post must be upgraded and transformed with necessary support services and facilities, into a leading regional border trading hub.
“If you are a wholesaler of onions, come to Wulli West now for quality, healthy locally produced onions, better than imported onions,” he called.
“There is need to place an immediate interim embargo on the importation of onions because there are sufficient locally produced onions for domestic consumption. We must promote and protect Gambian produce at all costs – a roadmap to national self-reliance and a veritable component of economic empowerment in the fight against poverty,” he stressed.