By Yero S. Bah
The Gambia marked the Silver Jubilee (25th) anniversary of the country’s attainment of Independence from Britain, on 18th February, 1990 with the presence of some key foreign dignitaries, notably Nigeria’s then military ruler, General (now rtd) Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, popularly called IBB.
This was what quickly refreshed Mrs. Binta Sidibeh’s mind to the commencement of her gardening, as she told Mansa Banko Online in an exclusive interview that, she started her gardening activities in that very year the then Nigerian leader visited the Gambia to attend the silver jubilee celebrations.
Sidibeh said she likes farming and selling of local products, and that she got into gardening by planting varieties of seedlings of different plant species for sale.
According to her, she detests involving into horticulture because women in Sifoe have to lease lands for such farming adventures.
“In horticulture, women have to borrow lands from men in the Gambia in order to plant a vegetable garden which is not sustainable,” the gardener averred.
Mrs. Sidibeh has a huge home garden where she planted varieties of trees; some are even considered alien or wild plants such as cacao, jackfruits, oranges of different types like fanta mandarin, lemon, mangoes, as well as other native trees. She claimed to have over 150 to 200 grafted orange seedlings of all types and sizes.
She pointed out that gardening and agriculture help people to be financially independent but also earns farmers cash, unexpectedly at times, because customers can walk into their gardens anytime to purchase products.
“Sometimes your pocket can run out but all of sudden customers pop in to buy seedlings.”
Madam Sidibeh recounts that, the former PPP Vice President and Minister under the first Republic, Mr. Bakary Bunja Darboe, popularly called BB Darboe–[Now an opposition party leader]–was planning to visit her garden in 1994, but she was unfortunate in that the 1994 coup d’etat led by former dictator, then Lieutenant Yahya A.J.J Jammeh took place a week before that BB planned visit.
Sidibeh, who has been doing gardening for over 30 now, said she’s luck to learn some grafting skills from one agricultural officer who lives in Sifoe, stressing that training and guidance exposed her to such the all-important skills in gardening. She indicated that, everything is a matter of learning and training plus an unquestionable determination. And, with her long years of gardening, Sidibeh could, as she told this medium, easily spot some plant diseases, and also perform most of the skills required in maintaining her garden.
When it comes to grafting seedlings, the long-standing gardener said she prefers grafting mangoes over oranges, explaining that mangoes have more liquid or are softer than orange seedlings; that it’s easier to maintain grafted mangoes than oranges.
She however, deplores the “lack of financial or resource support” from the state, positing that gardeners should be supported by the government through subsidization of farming implements and fertilizers, and provision of fertilizers to farmers for expansion and increased production and productivity thereby creating employment for Gambians.
The woman-gardener also talked about lack of proper water systems as a major challenge. She said for the past ten (10) years, she had been using her deep-seated well to water her seedlings, a labour she could no longer continue due to inevitable ageing. “I need simpler source of water because I am ageing now,” Sidibeh stressed.
She disclosed that marketing is not much of an issue because she gets customers from as far as Europe, and other Gambians coming from all parts of the country to purchase seedlings from her. She usually buys her animal dungs fertilizer from Brikama at the Daral {a place where goats and sheep are kept and sold to public} saying she buys 10 bags for D800.
The Sifoe gardener said she introduced gardening to many of the womenfolk in Sifoe, including Arang Kolley, the 75-year-old that Mansa Banko Online featured in one of the recent publications. “I have helped many women to get into this business in Sifoe village,” she informed.
Mrs. Sidibeh argued that, tree planting has no specific time because most people have boreholes now. Besides, she called on Gambian women to redouble their efforts in cementing family ties and food productions for their families.
