The Chief of Jarra West District, Yaya Jarjusey, has called on The Gambia Government to consider offering a ‘better and more attractive’ price for groundnut, as the groundnut trade season gets closer.
“This will enable groundnut farmers harvest the fruits of their production,” he said on Tuesday, 1st November 2022, during the Gambia Groundnut Cooperation’s (GGC) annual stakeholder consultation on the groundnut trade Season.
Held at the Jenoi Agricultural Center in the Lower River Region, the consultation brought together groundnut farmers and GGC as representative of the government to dialogue on the upcoming groundnut season, especially on the price of groundnut.
“Our concern is the difference between the price offered by The Gambia Government and that of their Senegalese counterpart. If the price of groundnut offered by Senegal is better than that of The Gambia … farmers will sell their nuts for higher and better prices,” he affirmed.
The district chief further urged the government to make more investment in the cooperatives and put in place effective monitoring mechanisms to avert any possible future loopholes that might arise at the seccos (ground buying centres) during the groundnut trade season.
He also implored the government to mechanize farming, not only groundnut, but also rice production, to help the country meets its food self-sufficiency goals.
The chief said this is especially important because the elderly people are no longer active in farming as they no longer have the physical strength and manpower while the able-bodied young people are preoccupied with the ‘back-way route’, irregular migration to Europe.
Also speaking on the occasion, the chairperson of GCC Board of Directors, Mr. Falalo Touray, congratulated the farming community, for their ‘cooperation and support’ to the GGC over the years.
He said: “The GGC went through lots of challenges in the recent past, and it is reasonable to think or even assume that all these challenges can be addressed instantly. However, much have been achieved through government’s institutional and technical reforms to improve efficiency and effectiveness.”
Mr. Touray noted that building an institution that they would be proud of, will require their unconditional support, cooperation, commitment and sacrifices.
Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Demba Sabally, has called on The Gambia to produce bigger and better agricultural products to attain food self-sufficiency and eradicate poverty.
He also challenged the nation to use agriculture to grow the country’s economy and create jobs for the youth folks.
“As a nation, we must produce bigger and better by adapting to the smart technology. We must be mechanized. We must not be comfortable to remain small scale farmers but of course smallholder farmers are the most important farmers for us in The Gambia,” Minister Sabally said.
He told the forum that the National Development Plan (NDP) sets specific targets for agriculture, which is to boost production and productivity, as well as to eradicate poverty.
Agriculture, the minister said, is a critical pillar in the nation’s drive for food security, by extension the socio-economic development of this country.
He said renewed the government’s committed to attain these set targets, by working closely with the Gambian farmers.
“The recent global crises have raised the bar for the importers of agriculture in any country and this we mean the socio-economic development. I would therefore urge you, the farmers and all other stakeholders, to use agriculture as a driver for change, because it is only through agriculture that change is sustainable and long term,” Minister Sabally told the convergence.
Other speakers on the occasion include Kebba Darboe, representative of the Governor of LRR and Mr. Sheriffo Bojang, President of Gambia Farmer’s Platform.
