STORY: Onions are also an essential part of the local cuisine in the Philippines. However, the country is currently struggling with a veritable onion crisis. Despite large-scale cultivation, onion prices in the Philippines are now among the highest in the world. At the end of last year, the costs had meanwhile increased almost tenfold to the equivalent of 35 euros per kilo. The government felt compelled to make supportive purchases abroad and approved an emergency import volume of 21,000 tons of onions at the beginning of the year. This step, in turn, was untimely, as it came just two weeks before the start of the main harvest season in the Philippines. Local farmers, like Jon-Jon Taverna, are forced to harvest early and sell cheap. “We’re annoyed. We rely on our crops. But if they import at the same time, we’re done, that’s a loss. We won’t get anything we’ve worked hard for. No matter how good the crop is, if the prices depressed, you can’t make any money.” There is also the problem of unscrupulous onion middlemen who buy onions from farmers at bargain prices and then store the goods for several months to create artificial shortages. Critics accuse the government of chronic mismanagement of the Philippine agricultural sector. Only reforms and a restructuring of the Ministry of Agriculture could fundamentally change the situation. Meanwhile, some communities have come up with their own solutions to defuse the onion crisis. Customers can trade their leftover onions for a variety of other items. The bulbs collected are then distributed to those in need through a communal pantry.