By Hauwa Ndafogi Tauhid
The flames had been burning for hours by the time the farmers of Duhuwa village in Sokoto State could begin to count their losses. Returning from Friday Juma’at prayers on a late April afternoon in 2026, they watched helplessly as fire raced through their onion storage huts, consuming the dry thatch roofs and wooden frames that had protected their harvest for generations. By the time the inferno subsided, 324 huts had been reduced to ashes, taking with them 5,832 bags of onions. Each bag represented months of labour, a farmer’s investment and, for many families, the money they needed to survive.
Duhuwa was not alone. Within the same week, storage facilities in Kojiyo and Dundaye also caught fire. Across the three communities, more than 10,000 bags of onions were reportedly destroyed, with losses approaching half a billion naira. Aliyu Maitasamu Isah, national president of the Nigerian Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN), put the value of the Duhuwa losses alone at N204.12 million, based on the prevailing village price of N35,000 per bag.
The tragedy came barely four months after Sokoto State Governor Ahmad Aliyu unveiled what he described as a “game-changing investment” in modern onion storage. Announced on December 8,2025, the facility, developed in partnership with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), was presented as a step towards reducing waste, stabilising prices and improving farmers’ earnings.
For a state that produces approximately 40 per cent of Nigeria’s onions, the promise was significant. Yet the April fires exposed a painful contradiction: while government plans pointed towards modernisation, many farmers remained dependent on vulnerable traditional huts, with few affordable alternatives and little financial protection when disaster struck.
The question is no longer simply how to prevent the next fire. It is why farmers responsible for a substantial share of the nation’s onion supply are still so exposed to losses that threaten their livelihoods, deepen food insecurity and undermine the value of their harvests.
The Economics of Rot
In Sokoto, onions are central to the rural economy, yet many farmers still depend on wooden structures roofed with dry thatch. Although these traditional huts offer some protection from heat, they leave produce vulnerable to fire, insects and spoilage.
Farmer and trader Bashiru Tajiru says he loses about 10 bags of onions to spoilage each season. Excessive heat and rapid deterioration remain persistent challenges, making it difficult for farmers to preserve their harvest until market conditions improve.
The financial consequences are significant. Aminu Sheu, who has farmed onions for 20 years, says a bag can sell for N25,000 to N30,000 immediately after harvest but fetch between N70,000 and N90,000 after three to four months.
Yet many farmers cannot afford to wait. They must sell quickly to meet household expenses and purchase other necessities. Having invested heavily in fertiliser and other inputs, they often emerge from harvest with little working capital.
The result is a cycle in which farmers sell when prices are lowest and surrender the potential gains to traders who can afford to store their produce.
Nigeria’s wider post-harvest challenge compounds the problem. The country reportedly loses between 30 million and 40 million metric tonnes of food annually, valued at approximately N3.5 trillion. Fruits and vegetables account for a substantial share, while the absence of effective cold-chain infrastructure and reliable energy contributes to losses across agricultural value chains.
A 2025 academic study involving 240 onion farmers in four producing areas of Wamakko Local Government Area identified inadequate storage facilities as the leading cause of post-harvest losses.
A Market Built on Uncertainty
Traditional storage arrangements offer limited relief. Sheu describes a communal system in which farmers pay weekly fees ranging from N500 to N2,000, depending on the quantity stored. However, storage charges can consume potential profits when onion prices remain depressed.
Shared facilities also concentrate risk. When a hut catches fire, several farmers may lose their entire investment simultaneously.
Sai’idu Taru, a village head and onion seller, describes prices fluctuating from N30,000–N40,000 per bag after harvest to N100,000 or more in subsequent months. At the time of his account, prices were around N180,000, with further increases or sharp declines possible.
Such volatility reflects a fundamental supply problem. Without adequate storage, farmers release large volumes into the market immediately after harvest, depressing prices. Later, dwindling supplies push prices upwards, leaving consumers to pay more while producers struggle to capture the gains.
After the Fires, Little Assistance
Despite the scale of the April losses, affected farmers reported receiving no assistance from government agencies or humanitarian organisations.
Tajiru said no support had reached him from the National Emergency Management Agency, the state government or NGOs. The Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency reportedly said it was unaware of the incidents and would act if the relevant local government submitted a report. No public evidence was available in the account that a subsequent assessment or relief intervention had taken place.
The fires also prompted suspicions of deliberate action. NOPPMAN reported the incidents to security agencies, including the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force, requesting investigations into what it described as a suspicious pattern of outbreaks occurring within short intervals.
For the farmers, however, the immediate problem remains unchanged: without affordable alternatives, they must continue using the same vulnerable structures.
A Proven Solution Still Out of Reach
An alternative already exists. In 2019, the 2SCALE project, implemented by the International Fertiliser Development Centre in partnership with Tays Food Limited, introduced the Sokoto Improved Model (SIM), inspired by traditional onion-storage practices in Senegal.
Originally priced at approximately N125,000 per unit, the structure uses locally available materials, including galvanised iron poles, wooden frames, iron mesh and Zana grass mat ceilings designed to reduce heat radiation.
While traditional huts may be suitable for only one storage season, the improved model can preserve onions for four to six months and last more than five years with proper maintenance. Its capacity reaches 21 tonnes, equivalent to approximately 175 bags.
Although the model has been introduced in several onion-producing clusters in Sokoto, farmers interviewed in Kwakwalawa said they had neither heard about the system nor received information about the modern cold-storage facility announced by the governor.
This is the central contradiction in Sokoto’s onion economy. The challenge is not simply a lack of technology; it is ensuring that existing solutions reach the farmers who need them.
What Farmers Need
Farmers say improved storage must be accompanied by affordable fertiliser, effective pesticides and accessible financing. Tajiru says they would willingly use modern facilities if the charges were fair and affordable.
Sheu’s appeal is more immediate: “Food for farmers.” His words capture the predicament of producers struggling to feed their families despite growing a crop essential to millions of Nigerian households. The stakes extend beyond Sokoto. Agriculture contributed 27.55 per cent of Nigeria’s aggregate GDP in 2025, with nominal output of approximately N101.46 trillion, yet sectoral growth remained modest at 2.92 per cent. Reducing post-harvest losses could improve rural incomes, strengthen food security and moderate seasonal price swings. For onion farmers, better storage would mean more than preventing fires or spoilage. It would provide the financial breathing room to sell strategically rather than out of desperation.
The government’s December announcement offered a vision of modernisation. But in communities where traditional huts remain the only available option, that promise has yet to translate into practical change. Until affordable storage, financing and agricultural support reach the people producing Nigeria’s onions, the cycle will persist: farmers will harvest, prices will collapse, produce will deteriorate, and fires will threaten what remains. In Sokoto, the onion bank keeps burning not only in flames but also through a system that continues to destroy value while farmers wait for help.