By Yero S. Bah
Globally, agriculture plays an indispensable role in poverty reduction and wealth creation for individual families and nations,especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. It serves as the backbone for economic prosperity for many countries including The Gambia, a country that largely depends on rainfed farming for survival.
However, challenges such as lack of sufficient financial capital, shortage of human resources and proper marketing services pose dire threats to the sustainability of this important production sector of the economies of many nations around the world, particularly in countries like the Gambia.
Ms. Kelly Smeets is a co-founder and Coordinator of My Farm Garden, located in Nema Kunku village, Kombo North, West Coast Region. The Netherlander runs a farm garden where various tropical trees, flowers, fruit crops and horticultural activities are ongoing on a year-round basis.
The farm also conducts skills training programs for children from the neighborhood and production of finished moringa and honey products, all processed at the farm by employees of the farm – all locally made.
Madam Smeets was born in the Netherlands, got her MSC in tropical Agriculture and came to The Gambia some 21 years ago, and throughout this period, she has served various communities in the country such as Upper River Region, Njawara Agricultural Center and now at My Farm in Nema Kunku. She is among the pioneers of My Farm project which started some eight years ago.
She explained to Mansa Banko Online: “We started this farm in 2012 from scratch with what was available. There is a need for attitudinal change for people to be able to realize the opportunities that are available within their reach, especially youth.”
The farm is beautifully demarcated with natural tropical flowers, trees, eco-friendly buildings, solar energy systems, irrigation and animal rearing such as rabbits, pigs and birds add to the colorful scenery of the garden.
“We are very sensitive to climate change and that is why we practice recycling farming technologies. We use organic manures from leaves and animals’ dungs in all our farming activities. Climate change affects the whole world, therefore innovative interventions are needed from farmers and everyone to save the planet from destruction,” she averred,
It could be noted that the Farm has partnered with several youth organizations, among them Activista – The Gambia, to implement some entrepreneurship training programs for certain youth, as well as individuals from the communities who are interested in entrepreneurship skills such as soap making, moringa preparation, honey processing skills and other entrepreneurial techniques.
Fresh finished moringa and honey products could be seen displayed at the farm stores from natural vegetables, trees and flowers of the garden with beehives placed in various locations on the farm for honey production, which many believe is healthy.
She noted: “Moringa has all the nutritional elements that our bodies need such as iron, vitamins and proteins. For honey, it is our gold here and last year, we produced over forty liters.”
According to her, in order to change the mentalities of people, especially the youth folk, there needs to be a new orientation of the education system to attract more people into agriculture; that people need to know that farming could be a source of livelihood and wealth creation. She charged that the youth need to be taught skills and self-worth values in order to get rid of the mentality of working only in offices in The Gambia.
The Gambia-based Netherlander further argued, “We need to change our mindsets toward entrepreneurship and farming to see it as alternative and source of livelihoods and not as a curse.”
Over the years, there has been a surge in the creation of business startups and incubation ventures in the country. However, sustainability has always been a major challenge for many young entrepreneurs.
Madam Smeets pointed out that lack of proper entrepreneurial skills, shaky financial muscles and poor economic accountability among entrepreneurs are key contributors to the failures of these newly established startups across the Gambia.
She also lamented that negative attitudes toward agriculture by society pose threats to this important area, as he also opined that “Gambians believe in office work and not agriculture.”
On irregular migration, Smeets believes that migration happens for various reasons, some of them genuine. She said there is global chaos because few people in power want to grab and control everything at the expense of others, saying this creates conflicts, chaos and inequality around the world, thus pushing some to migrate abroad to seek for better education or other forms of greener pastures.
However, she echoed that there is no place that is easy even though economic opportunities differ from country to country.
She advised entrepreneurs to focus more on the provision of quality services and hygienic products to win long lasting customers.
My Farm has a computer lab where basic coding and information technologies such as MS words and Excel are offered to children with the aim of exposing them to the current digital world for them to become productive citizens in the future.
Smeets disclosed that partnerships from individuals and organizations are something that the garden welcomes so as to share best practices. They are partnering with the newly built Nema Kunku Primary School through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) and MRC Holland to offer basic entrepreneurial course to the students.” to offer basic entrepreneurial course to the students, as she informed.
Tourists from various parts of the world and school children regularly pay excursion trips to the garden, and agricultural students from the Gambia College Campus in Brikama do their internships- for practical- at the garden.
She posited that people should start business ventures with what is available and not to wait for bigger structures or programs. “We can make it happen anywhere if only we change our mentalities toward life,” were her words of encouraging to all and sundry.
