Onion drying systems in Senegal
What the crop demands, what the country imposes, and what that means for capacity.
The Niayes strip along the coast north of Dakar is the most productive horticultural zone in Senegal, and onion is its flagship crop. National policy has pushed hard at import substitution and largely succeeded during the season — the failure is storage, where a large share of the crop is lost before the off-season it was meant to supply.
The situation in Senegal
The closest West African coast to Europe, with Dakar four days’ sailing from Algeciras and a direct air-freight route that other producers in the region do not have. Its agricultural calendar is also the odd one out: the rains arrive late and the mango season runs through the northern summer, when Sahelian supply has finished. That timing is worth more than any processing efficiency.
Growing regions. the Niayes coastal strip, Casamance in the south, Saint-Louis and the river valley
What onion drying demands
Onion is grown in irrigated dry-season volume and stored badly, with post-harvest losses across the Sahel that routinely reach a third of the crop. Sliced to 4–6 mm and dried to 6–8 %, it becomes a stable ingredient product with a year-round market and none of the storage rot.
Harvest calendar
February to June, lifted from irrigated Niayes plots. The shortage the crop is supposed to fill arrives afterwards, in the second half of the year.
The working campaign window as the trade runs it. It shifts a fortnight either way with the rains.
Process parameters
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Drying temperature | 55–60 °C |
| Final moisture | 6–8 % |
| Yield (fresh : dried) | 9 : 1 |
| Cycle time | 14–20 h |
Sizing starting points from ordinary processing practice, not a validated recipe for your product. Confirm against your own intake and your buyer’s specification.
Worked sizing example
For a unit taking 10 tonnes of fresh product a day, at a yield of 9 : 1:
Illustrative figures calculated from the yield and campaign window above. They size a conversation; they do not describe any existing installation.
Fuel available in Senegal
The groundnut basin supplies a large volume of very light groundnut shell: briquetting is not optional but a precondition. Rice husk in the river valley.
- Base load. Groundnut shell · Rice husk · Cashew shell
- Supplement. Cotton stalk · Corn cob · Sawdust
See all 27 fuels and their properties
Market and buyer requirements
Domestic, substituting for imports that return the moment local bulbs run out. Dried slices and powder extend supply into exactly the window where imports currently take the market back.
Explore further
The systems that hold this profile
Other crops in Senegal
Fish · Groundnut · Mango · Hibiscus · Raw cashew nut
Onion drying elsewhere
Frequently asked questions
What problem does drying solve for Senegalese onion?
The gap between harvest and demand. The crop is lifted February to June, imports return in the second half of the year, and a large share of the local bulbs rot in between. Dried to 6–8 % they hold for twelve months and cover the gap.
How much fresh onion makes a tonne dried?
About nine tonnes, so a 10 t/day intake produces roughly 1.1 tonnes of dried product daily on a 14 to 20 hour cycle at 55–60 °C. Sizing is done on fresh intake, which is where the storage space and the labour go.
Does drying damage the flavour?
Not at 55–60 °C. Above that, the volatile sulphur compounds that give onion its value as an ingredient are driven off, and the result looks correct but tastes of very little — which is the most common failure on this crop.
Size a unit in Senegal
Tell us your daily fresh volume and target output, and we will size the chambers, the burner and the fuel available around your site.
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