In an exclusive interview with Mansa Banko Online on 2 May, 2021, Mr. Malick Badjie, an educationist who turned to gardening and restaurant business, explained what motivated to become an entrepreneur.
A Nursery School teacher with an Early Childhood Education (ECE) professional certificate from the Gambia College in Brikama, he founded the ‘Africa Must Farm’ garden located in Jakoi Paima, Foni Bintang Karanai of West Coast Region (WCR).
Despite his teaching profession, Badjie said he was ‘inspired into farming’ by his friends and brothers whom he had been visiting at their gardens; recollecting that he was not doing anything after closing from school but just drinking China green-tea locally-dubbed (Ataya)–something he later realized was a waste of time compared to what his friends or brothers were doing.
The former Head teacher at Kubuneh Nursery School now spends most his time at his garden in Foni Bintang where he started fencing and growing cashew trees. According to him, he was ‘moved’ when he visited a brother’s garden in Mandinaba village and, it was from then that, he decided to venture into gardening by growing sweet potatoes, bananas and lime trees.
Badjie disclosed that on yearly basis, he generates income from his cashew nuts, noting that’s different from his seasonal harvests during the rainy season. While saying he had never received any financial assistance in the Gambia, he acknowledged however, that “people do come to my farm to buy my cashew nuts”.
In encouraging Gambians, in particular and Africans, in general to engage in farming, which he said has a direct link to the name of his garden ‘Africa Must Farm’, the teacher-cum-gardener argued he wants to show example to fellow Gambians that salaries (alone) can’t solve their problems, hence the need for people to go back to farming.
Besides farming, Badjie also operates a small restaurant in his garden where he usually invites youth to host their programs as his target, he disclosed, is to advertise his farm (garden) through which many usually purchase his products.
But he indicated the problem he faces at the moment, is that many people don’t know him due to the location of his farm; “so my business is very slow. No business [is going on here] right now because of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
As a provisional solution, Badjie had dug a local well and fixed it with a water pumping machine for the watering of his crops and seedlings. He used this interview to call on people with the means to assist him to secure a borehole so as to effectively run his garden.
