Young people depend on traditional irrigation to produce onions in Cameroon

Roland has decided to stay in Godola in the far north of Cameroon. He's following the footsteps of his parents and friends in growing onions.

Along with his brothers, they come into these vast plains of the village of Doublé to undertake traditional irrigation.

''You know it depends on the means of each one. In general, it takes 4 months to produce these onions. After transplanting the seedlings, we spray water. And after two months we come to plough'', he told our Correspondent, Joel Honoré Kouam.

In spite of the difficulty, Abba does not intend to stop, because his onions are highly valued in Kousseri and on the Chadian market.

In Doublé, cultivation is still very archaic because producers do not have the means to do a good job. Here, everything is done by hand.

"It is part of us and that is why we are here. All our young people have stayed in the village because the onion has kept them here. Otherwise, we can always travel, leave our village to go and get money in town’’, Algui, an onion producer in Godola and Makilingai said.

The onions produced by Algui do not remain on the local market, as they are very popular in South Cameroon, especially in Yaoundé, Douala, and Bertoua.

Honoré Kouam reports that: ‘’Production in the Far North region is estimated at more than 300,000 tons. Making it the main onion-producing region in Cameroon. The onions will be sold on local markets in Yaoundé, Douala, Bafoussam, Bertoua. They will also be shipped to Chad, CAR, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and other West African countries.''