AVRDC
The World Vegetable Center
SECOND WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE WEEK
***************
AN INTEGRATED VALUE CHAIN OF ONION AND SHALLOT
IN WEST AFRICA: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Albert Rouamba
Sanjeet Kumar
Paul Gniffke
Peter Hanson
Presented by: Dov Pasternak
Cotonou, 24 May 2010
AVRDC
The World Vegetable Center
Contents
 1. Onion in the world, Africa and West Africa
 2. Onion and shallot value chain
 3. Analyze of the components of onion and shallot value
chain
4. Interactions and links between the actors of the value
chain
5. Strengths and weaknesses
 6. Recommendations
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Statistics of onion production
Region/country Production
(t)
West Africa
1.200.000
Nigeria
621.000
Niger
373.000
Burkina Faso na
Senegal
145.000
*Mali
38.000
Source: FAOSTAT, 2008;
available
Areas (ha)
Yield (t/ha)
65.585
18,3
42.000
14,8
10.500
35,5
na
na
5.200
27,9
1.800
21,1
*= only shallot; na= not
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Characteristics of onion and shallot chain
 Low degree of organization
 Limited cooperation,
 High transactional costs,
 Unfair markets,
 Significant post harvest loss,
 Un-trained actors,
 Insufficient use of research results
 Absence of use of improved storage
facilities,
 Poor road networks
 Insufficient transport facilities leading to
loss of the product value
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Analyze of the components of onion and shallot value chain
Components of onion and
shallot value chain and
flow of goods and services
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Research
Generator of technologies
Performing varieties : Foundation seeds, certified
seeds (Violet de Galmi, V28, FBO1, V13,
AC980….
Development of good cultural practices
Development of best storage structures
and bulb management
Training
Bulb production to High value
Headquarter of ISRA
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Input supply
Seeds
Fertlizers
Crop protection products
Tool/equipment suppliers
Bags
Good seeds
Bad seeds
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Productions
Period: October to April
Zones: Arid and semi-arid zones in preference
Total production: 1.2 million of tons
Yield (t/ha): 18 tons for onion
Biggest producers: Nigeria and Niger
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Storage and processing
Onion is perishable but could be saved up to 6-8 months with a loss rate of 20%
IF
Good seeds are used
Good cultural practices used
Good technical harvest and post harvest techniques used
Bulb store in good storage structures and correctly manage
80% of bulbs could be saved
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Development of storage structures of onion considerably
reduce the looses after harvest in West Africa
Traditional shed can store 2-7 tons
Improved shed about 5 to 10
tons, type ISRA-Senegal
Improved house for bulbs storage
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Development of storage structures of onion considerably
reduce the looses after harvest in West Africa (Ctd)
Improved house for bulbs
storage at 50-100 tones
Industrial type for bulb storage
at 500 tones
Performances of these structures are conditioned by the quality of produced bulbs
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Processing allows to reduce also the looses after onion harvest
Bulbs are sliced and dried
Bulbs crushed, dried
and ground
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Export, import and transporation
Onion is a factor of
regional integration
Producing countries
Consumer countries
Import from:
EU+Egypt
Legend: Shallot:
Onion:
Marketing intra-regional channels of onion and
shallot in West Africa
70%
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Relationship between the actors
Absence or weak dialogue
 Interest group: loans, inputs
Limited profits and cohesion fragile.
 Lack of professionalism
30% of the added value is generated by
the product
MARKET
PRODUCTION
70%
30%
70% of the added value is generated
by the market
Distribution of the added value
between the market and production.
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Strengths
The intra-regional trade of onion and shallot
constitutes a powerful tool for economic integration
Onion is the most important source of incomes for
most farmers, notably the smallholders, and
improves the livelihoods of the poorest, women and
young.
The onion and shallot processing is exclusively for
women who are more affected by unemployment
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Weaknesses
The informal nature of relationship among the actors, inadequate
capacity of organizations, limited access to formal credit and poor
investment on productivity and profit enhancement
The poor social and physical infrastructures (like roads) in the region
exacerbate the risks associated with marketing and increased costs of
transportation to the destination.
The lack of organization market and forces the producers to sell their
products to the traders at a low and unpaid cost
The ignorance or the insufficient use of agricultural research results
constitutes serious barriers to the value chain of onion and shallot
promotion
70%
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Recommendations
Today
Tomorrow
30% of the added value is generated by
the product
70% of the added value is generated by
the product
PRODUCTION
MARKET
PRODUCTION
MARKET
30%
70%
70%
30%
70% of the added value is generated
30% of the added value is generated
by the market
by the market
The trend should be reversed like this
Distribution of the added value
between the market and production.
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Recommendations
The recommendations aim to lead the producers to acquire a
force capable of reversing the trend. For that, farmers have to:
- Produce their own quality seed and comply with good
agricultural practices to submit onions and shallots unbeatable.
- Generalize the use of technical performances of storage and
processing of onions and shallots in order to make available in
markets processed products or not according to demand while
keeping prices at remunerative levels.
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