The National Onion Producers Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NOPPMAN) has blamed the soaring prices and scarcity across on flooding and climate change.

National President Aliyu Isah, gave the reasons in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.

NAN reports that Nigeria witnessed a soaring rise in the price of onions from the fourth quarter of 2024 with a bag selling between N250,000 and N270,000 as against N70,000 and N90,000 per bag in previous months.

While a medium-sized bulb of the produce sells at N500 as against N50 per bulb. Isah told NAN that the reasons for the hike in onion price were multifaceted, leading to low production of the produce.

He said: “What caused the scarcity and high cost of onions from the last quarter of 2024 till now is as a result of the flooding.

“The flooding of 2024 that ravaged all our onion farms, from the producing bed of Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, up to Adamawa states resulted in the scarcity of the produce.

“We also had the problem affecting onion production with the release of water from dams from the northern states.”