ANALYSIS

The Gambia: Towards Food Self-Sufficiency

By **JALLOBEH HAMADI MAATONG

 Mr. Editor,

Please allow me space in your esteemed newspaper to respond to the Daily Observer’s editorial on the above captioned subject. I do not wish to quote any statistics on food production, external trade, and gross domestic product, the external and domestic debt and household economics in The Gambia, since such data is readily available to all. In this piece, I am by no means attempting to put down our beloved country that in no small measure has provided us with the foundation to attain the level of education that many of us have today. But, what is clear beyond any doubt is that The Gambia has not reached the standard of agricultural production to equate the effort, funding, and resources that have been pumped into the agricultural sector since independence. It is also clear beyond any doubt that the average Gambian cannot make economic progress if we cannot put cheaper food on our tables. We need to ask ourselves how much of our monthly income is spent on feeding the family? Our food bills amount to over fifty percent of our regular incomes, and this applies to everyone from the highest paid government employee to the middle-income manager. Therefore, figures offered by the Central Bank quoting 6.1 to 6.3 percent growths over select periods, are at best confusing to most Gambians. It is difficult to understand the yardstick that The Central Bank and Finance Ministry use to measure economic growth in The Gambia. A former Finance Minister under the PPP government who used to deliver budget speeches over several glasses of water, painted rosy pictures of the economy using numbers provided by a former Permanent Secretary who now happens to be back in position. We have consistently been fed information on how multimillion dalasi development budgets were going to improve the life of poor rural and urban Gambians over the years. However, actual funds allocated to budgets seemed to dry up after only the first quarter, but mysteriously remain in the books to comply with the demands of Breton-Woods Institutions and the requirement of a budget that was in reality already in the red. Most of our budget speeches are burdensome rituals consisting of cooked up budgets and empty platitudes. Well! Here we are again, with our former Finance Ministers living in luxury overseas and a former custodian of the Finance Ministry back in business in The Gambia, wooing his associates and old connections from his old days at the African Development Bank. Numbers abound again alongside fancy terminology, out of our financial institutions, such as BOPTC, FPCCBP, and FPC that do not bear any meaning to the average Gambian paying taxes to keep these folks afloat. Do we not recall that what was labeled a development budget was at the time donor funded by up to ninety five percent? Have we grown out of that? Where does our domestic debt stand today? How much do we pay for a kilogram of locally grown rice, millet, maize, and sorghum? Where is the groundnut oil except for what comes in the “Niani” label bottle out of Senegal? Do we have a short memory span for a syndrome or do we choose to blot stuff out of our memories? Do local newspaper editors live in a different era or do not know economic belt-tightening on account of being bankrolled by patrons in return for good doses of “griot” journalism? Surely all families subsist on the same Gambian markets albeit that some folks may have access to funds that most Gambians do not know of?

Simplistic thinking and random, ill-conceived statements such as those made by the Daily Observer Editor thus: “This will put us on the path of becoming the envisaged powerhouse of socio-economic development,” in reference to the introduction of a forty-day “Nerica” variety of rice cultivated on state managed plots that does not make a difference in the life of the average Gambian, if the government cannot exploit the opportunities provided by this rice variety are simply, worrisome. In other words, this rice variety must be developed into full-fledged commercial ventures that will not only bolster food self-sufficiency and bring down the price of our main staple food but also develop potential exports for our farmers. This same concept is applicable to other food crops that Gambians need for our overall food security. Government funded projects are not the answer, rather, we must move from subsistence to commercial agriculture if we can ever hope to achieve food security. The recipe for enhancing successful agricultural production schemes lies with a combination of strong policies and support to a vibrant private sector that not only believes that policy direction will serve to boost returns to investment, but also enhance the confidence of Gambians to invest funds in modern agricultural production techniques. We must also adapt production technologies to meet market demands that are highly dynamic and point to the fact that no client will purchase a product out of sympathy for a local producer, but that the product serves the needs of the market and consumers at large. Thus, in effect, meets the tests of current crop production techniques and quality criteria for an agricultural commodity.

I wish to put a key question out there for all. When has farming ever been rewarding to the average rural farmer in The Gambia? Those from a rural background should attempt to tackle this question first and list the number of growing seasons that parent farmers have been able to market produce and put enough money aside, post harvest, to last through the lean season. There lies our debacle in food production in The Gambia. There’s a clear shortage of models in agriculture that young Gambians can aspire to and emulate today. It is not the “Bantaba” that men-folk allegedly spend all their time, the “Attaya” that all young folks seem to be addicted to and serves as a good route for disease transmission, the “Nawetaan” that seems to take too much valuable time or the dreams of “Babylon” that cloud young minds for most of their waking moments and keep them away from meaningful production activities. How about the women-folk that spend all of the “twenty-six-hour-days” between the village garden and other household chores? Should they not be faring better than the men? The returns just don’t meet the demands of the family budget! What our kinfolk need are motivation, positive references, role models and seed money for start-up enterprises.

In order to develop a vibrant and sustainable industry around any food crop, cash crop or production activity, it is necessary to put in place the foundation and basic structures in support of the industry. Where a food crop is the target industry, it is imperative that a network of services are introduced at the outset to provide access to top quality seed, farm inputs and services, expertise in quality management, and marketing services. Quality management is no less important than other areas in establishing new enterprises since the ultimate success of produce marketing is dictated by the capacity of management to manage activities with the ultimate goal of presenting top quality and competitive produce in target markets. One should also be able to design production to capture niche markets and market windows. For instance, where an enterprise wishes to target the “Ramadan” market window with a product such as yellow onions to compete with imports, it is absolutely critical that cropping activities be designed to ensure that the crop is brought to maturity, field cured, graded and properly packaged to ensure top quality produce with reasonable shelf life that offers a viable alternative to imports from Europe. In a nutshell, farming/crop production is as much of an art as it is a science and it takes more than doing it by the book to put an acceptable product with a competitive price on the market. It is important to note here that how and when a product is introduced into the market has a strong bearing on the success or failure of the activity. Therefore, expertise in crop production and agricultural marketing must work in tandem with affordable funding sources to guarantee success. Affordable is a key factor in the equation since current commercial bank lending rates in The Gambia may work for ninety-day letters of credit for commodity imports, but would quickly strangle productive sector activities. Support enterprises such as seed marketing companies, farm equipment and input service, agro-processing and marketing companies must be ready and enabled to play an important role in the process of developing enterprises, labels, products and markets that will survive the rigors of entry into a highly competitive twenty first century market. One should not be blind-sided by simplistic thinking or rhetoric that leads us to believe that whatever produce is offered to satisfy market demand will automatically sell. Produce marketing is a lot more complex than that.

In the area of funding for medium scale enterprises, a lifeline for startups, one would be quick to cite the Indigenous Business Advisory Services (IBAS) and a host of micro- finance agencies on the ground. However, these facilities are clearly not designed for agricultural lending and do not address the unique features of agricultural production such as gestation periods for capital outlay and risk elements of crop production and product development. Whoever designed IBAS was thinking petty trading in consumables and dry goods for market operators as a host of medium scale activities prevalent in The Gambia today do not lend themselves well to IBAS lending. In effect, one needs a vehicle for moving bright ideas forward and translates such ideas into thriving businesses. The vehicle must also offer alternative funding sources and the motivation to tap these sources. The will must exist to remove all non-policy barriers to agricultural lending. How many Gambians are sitting on bright ideas that fizzle out over time for want of resources to put them in motion? The fact is that there just aren’t enough resources to go round and the current climate clearly does not favor investments in the productive sector. May not be the case on the books but this fact is clear on the ground as average Gambians work to set up enterprises in the productive sectors. What is the point in introducing a particular variety of crop when the average Gambian is unable to find the funds to purchase a kilogram of that seed for planting? Therefore, targeted and well-planned efforts could go a long way in helping aspiring growers and farmers to access top quality seed. Slogans and party platform rhetoric are not the answer, neither is the President’s solo effort at food production. The issue is not to run a charity or create largesse that revolves around a particular model but enable folks to access farm inputs and services. What the President needs to do is broaden the horizon and get young Gambians funded to invest in fish farming, farm support services, food crop production, seed production, livestock production and finishing and agricultural marketing services among others. A comprehensive framework in support of the chain of activities involved in commercial agricultural production must be in place for a start. This is doable and it should be added that not all Gambians are lazy bums sitting there waiting for handouts, and thinking along those lines would be an insult to their intelligence and integrity. Many Gambians entered public service at the bottom of the ladder as “unqualified” teachers, agricultural assistants and CDA’s, but worked their way up to director positions and college graduates from top-notch universities. Let’s put an end to the creation of more quasi-government bodies that only add to the burden of the national budget, and instead establish semi-private or private independent bodies of concerned Gambians to oversee these activities outside of government. Emphasis on autonomy is important since public service agents can themselves be impediments to advancing these concepts. One gets the impression that only The Gambian Government can bring salvation to the Gambian people. This could not be further from the truth. We know that. What happened to The Gambia government fuel subsidy, A.K.A. Duty Free Fuel, program? It was a great concept, but it was misused and derailed by both public servants and private sector operators to the extent that the EU raised the alarm bells. The fact is that everyone involved in administering this program was in bed with the other fellow and ran the gamut from seafood companies, Trade Officers, Customs Officers, Elf and Shell Oil company staff that discharged the fuel out of the storage depots or endorsed fuel transactions. Most of this fuel ended up in the storage tanks of the neighborhood fuel station where money quickly changed hands. That was common knowledge. I am also not a big fan of giving out tractors and other resources to whoever can sing the loudest on the partisan party stage or happens to be at the right place at the right time. It is either the case that the tractors could not be fuelled on account of shortages, the front wheel bearing is gone or that the allocated fuel ends up in the tanks of  "Apai Jeju's" local commuter taxis. Who can police all that when the local police patrol and check point serve as the "Osusu/fish money" machine?

For once in our lifetime, let us invest in Gambians. Believe and accept the fact that the private sector is an engine, if not the only engine of growth in The Gambia. We must not look up to government for salvation and as the milk cow that is there for everyone to milk. Anyone remember the local saying, “who side you tie cow, na dey he go eat”. Well, the fact now is that the cow is drying up, as there is not enough grass to feed the cow beyond the yard. Regional, autonomous, commercial farm services and medium scale enterprises hold better chances at sustainability than the local Kambeng Kaffo, the Yiriwa Society, Kafuta Women’s Garden Association or Jokereh En’dang Sare Gainako. Valuable time and resources are being wasted in the guise of fancy schemes, programs and political patronage. Set up Kering Kankuntu, Bombada Jatta, Jamanti Marong-Kunda, Nyada Samba-Sirra and Fabakary Numuyel as independent operators to run the Berefet Farm Services Ltd, not a government tractor-ploughing scheme that squanders public funds. The socialist agenda, economics and philosophy being revisited by certain segments of the Gambian electronic media would not serve to address the needs for growth in the Gambian agricultural sector either. Government largesse that all ailing economies cannot afford has become a syndrome that needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency. Government funded group effort in The Gambia is reminiscent of the old days of The Gambia Cooperative Union and The Gambia Commercial and Development Bank where money was doled out without the wish to repay loans taken out or the will, on the part of the lender, to collect. It took the IMF to twist former President Jawara’s arm into using the analogy of the laden taxi. “When the taxi is so overloaded with passengers that it cannot move, surely some of the passenger load must be taken off”, he said in describing the state of the bloated government and the need for the removal of subsidies. Was that not glaringly obvious at the time to all senior government officials and political figures? The fact is that Gambians are just not good at “Kambeng Kaffo” as the “Kaffo” without exception ends up in the scenario of the king and his subjects or the Boss man and his boys where the “boys” and the “subjects” spend valuable time, effort and resources jockeying for positions and political clout in the hierarchy. Meanwhile, resources, objectivity, creativity and resolve go down the drain.

A bold move, for example, would be to partition the CRR Rice Development Projects and remnants of similar projects into medium scale, owner operated, commercial holdings with the support structure to produce process and market Gambian rice. Where able-bodied youth are in short supply such as in Fulladu Missira, Niani Manna and similar locations, provide incentives for young fellows to relocate to these areas with the object of setting up commercial ventures. Actively support stand-alone and self-sustaining enterprises, and this is easier said than done, one would add. Gambians are no different from other nationals that are active in the business of enterprise development the world over, and there’s no shortage of sound minds and bodies in our beloved country.

A scenario can be offered here. Transform what is left of the Jahali-Pacharr Project into the Fulladu Rice Production Enterprises. Fund the entity as a profit making commercial venture and partition the project area into medium scale smallholder lots. Provide the framework for “Samba & Gelajo” Enterprises to serve as a model enterprise. In tandem with this entity, create a “Mamud-Fana/Momad-Hojah Farm Services Company” to provide a range of farm equipment and input services at prevailing market prices. Additional technical help could be offered by DOSA, but these agents would be hired, paid by and accountable to the independent enterprises. The practice of attaching government experts to these projects would not be applicable under the circumstances, and must be regarded as a thing of the past, since all it does is allow public servants to drain funds from projects. The issue of government largesse and public servants corrupting donor-funded projects should be seen as unsustainable and unacceptable. A word for the wise directed at public servants is that they must choose between the private or public sectors while they still have the ability to make an impact. Walking astride of the line and endlessly mulling over the possibility of making an exit to the private sector, merely makes life difficult for those that work so hard in the private sector to build entities with the object of making a decent living. Such entities should be regarded as budding Gambian enterprises that deserve all the help they can get and do count on public servants to grant well-deserved approval for documents and facilities that ensure survival in the business world. More often than not, underlying animosities between the public and private sectors tend to muddy the waters and create undue delay in the implementation process of startup enterprises.

An independent and privately owned produce marketing agency would be created alongside the Fulladu Rice Production Enterprises. This entity could be funded through private equity with some government support to undertake the task of marketing with a stake in the quality management aspects of the crop from start to finish. The business hires all technical and marketing staff as they deem fit to establish themselves as a reliable and reputable outlet for produce marketing, two traits that seem to be in very short supply when it comes to produce marketing in The Gambia. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) funded Kafuta Womens’ Garden and similar entities funded by the same could be removed from under the village committees and poorly motivated groups and transformed into specialized production units for vegetable production under private individual ownership or partnerships. Operators could seek trading partners to put an investment plan in place as a foundation for export oriented enterprises. The sad thing with these gardens is that most Gambians do not take time to reflect on the amount of foreign contracted loan funds and grants that went into setting up these gardens that are largely going to waste. There’s the need to find ways of recovering some of the loan funds tied down in these dormant schemes. With private funding, these investors, who may very well be resident in the community, would hire management and a crew to help with facility operations and water management. Water resources and other inputs could be produced and delivered for sale to the producers at prevailing market prices. Government could provide incentives in the form of lower fuel prices to allow the effective production of irrigation water that is a critical resource in the viability of irrigated crop enterprises. The need for audit controls to discourage the diversion of such fuel resources to local fuel stations must be a matter of priority.

The donor-funded gardens could also be set up to produce Irish Potatoes in The Gambia in the cool season from December to March. Yes it can be done and records show yields of up to eighteen tons to the hectare with very competitive farm gate prices. These proposals signal the need for a full-fledged seed production and marketing company in the form of “Darbo-Dinding” Enterprises” with the role of selecting an array of seed for multiplication and sale to producers in select farming regions. They must establish themselves as a reliable and reputable seed source. A venture that seems to elude Gambian agriculture. D-D Enterprises could also award contracts for seed multiplication to those farmers that meet the criteria for contract growers to ensure growth and continuity as the concept of trying to conduct all activities in-house may not be economically feasible or sustainable. In turn D-D Enterprises would procure, process and employ quality management techniques to ensure that good quality seed is available for sale to local farmers. An added benefit is that seed-borne diseases would be kept to the minimum with good quality management. The possibility of establishing seed banks under D-D Enterprises in collaboration with donors and NGO’s must be pursued as a matter of urgency. Clearly, there’s the need for more operators in the area of seed production and marketing.

Commitment and confidence on the part of Gambians coupled with sound government policies that can make a difference, are key in the endeavor to transform Gambian agriculture. At this juncture, one would wonder why no former agricultural project directors or managers have moved on to commercial agriculture. One would think that since they have the technical expertise, they would be more inclined to go into private sector agricultural production for themselves. We need to challenge some of these folks to go out there in rural Gambia and invest some of the funds that have been siphoned off of the projects that they headed. At least we would have models that hopefully bear some promise that our young fellows can emulate. The point is that agricultural production can be rewarding and there is adequate proof of that. Gambian agriculture needs to follow suit through massive efforts at transformation. This approach calls for bold policy moves that favor private enterprise in agriculture and party affiliations should not be a determining factor. There is the need to watch out for public servants, as they can be impediments to change in The Gambia. We learnt many things from the failed rice projects, and a case in point was the APRC rice episode when tons of rice changed hands, the Nissan pickups and self-made young fellows that profited immensely from graft and party affiliation. We must not repeat past policy mistakes, instead we must aim at creating an enabling environment, continue the sensible divestiture of public assets, capacity building, creating sources of seed money and venture capital for agriculture not only in words but in deed too! The need to do away with age-old terminology and technical language that is clearly aimed at padding the nests of politicians and public servants alike should be a matter of priority. There are many examples of people who have profited from the usage of the confusing language of technical jargon, loopholes and misguided policies. Why must we only shake our heads and let it pass? If a donor or public institution would not endorse or fund a program on account of the absence of a catchphrase or potential personal benefit, let’s start in-house and be proactive. The role of the Legislature is central to all strategic plans and goals. Where we could not produce export market grades of groundnuts, cotton and sesame, the need to redirect policy and resources to minimize losses must be undertaken as a matter of pragmatism. If the groundnut and cotton industries are clearly beyond resuscitation, we must find a way to reduce our losses and focus instead on food production. At some point during the days of the PPP government, it was clear beyond any doubt that the Cotton Project and Gamcot were unsustainable. There was ample and tangible evidence to foretell the impending failure, but the government of the day was bent on keeping the project going on account of the commitment of funds, albeit questionable as to who benefits, from Caisse Central de Development of France. After all, there is adequate proof that it is cheaper to produce a ton of maize, sorghum or millet than a ton of peanuts or cotton in The Gambia. We can consider transforming our Denton Bridge plant into a domestic Bio-diesel and peanut oil production facility from the elephant project that it now represents. By the same token, we can do away with what is left of the plundered cotton project and gin in Basse, rather than wait to sell them off at a pittance to some shady investor in bed with a public servant in the guise of a Breton-Woods Institution endorsed transaction.

Legislators must commit to putting aside funds out of the national budget for funding specific agricultural programs with clearly defined guidelines and specific goals. Legislators must demonstrate a clear commitment to creating a clearly worded development budget with set guidelines regarding modes of disbursement, targets and ultimate goals. Cut other areas to fund the new and pressing as is done the world over. This may require a mandate that creates a development budget in support of the private sector to be administered by bodies outside of any arm or appendage of government. Where private agencies cannot access or administer legislated government development funds on account of the current legal framework, an amendment of legislation to address the exigencies of the circumstances (using standard civil service lingo) could be made. There is no shortage of sound and energetic folks in The Gambia to appoint to such a body. For once our legislators should wake up to the smell of the flowers and events on the world stage, and do something meaningful for the love of country and the desire to leave a legacy. Private Banks, institutions and donors must commit to reserving a segment of their portfolio, as a goodwill gesture, to fund priority areas in agriculture. Some will offer that they have tried and failed previously, but what they may not admit to is that lending practices were ill conceived and not affordable to agricultural smallholders of the day. The myriad of Nigerian banks setting up shop in the not-so-well endowed African sister countries, in the name of investment, must also play their part in this noble gesture. There is absolutely no need to set up a new government lending body or a party affiliated institution here, certainly no ADB’s or GCDB’s. The age-old excuse offered by government institutions and the Central Bank that they could not design a mechanism for lending donor allocated funds, as the commercial banks would not touch it, is unacceptable. The Gambia has also seen its fair share of everything that could go wrong in government-funded schemes. What happened to love for one’s country and working to leave a legacy? Gambians abroad and at home could donate to a fund in return for a stake in organizations or a seat on the board of newly formed private enterprises. That way any perceived ill-will and potential bugs in the system will be plucked out or nipped in the bud signaling a different set of standards from traditional government where issues, no matter how important, can be swept under the carpet. A touchy subject would be who gets to benefit from these programs. The belief is that with dedication, impartiality and love of country, it is possible to identify and hand pick able-bodied, confident and refined Gambians to serve as models in select agribusiness sub-sectors. The effort should include not only production outfits but also service outfits in the form of crop protection, crop services, animal production, equipment maintenance and agribusiness marketing services. Owner operators must also commit to training and educating themselves and staff in a challenging and dynamic endeavor. Partnerships with overseas investors with access to funding and cutting edge technology must be encouraged to ensure the sustainability of these budding enterprises. Creating partnerships with foreign farmers is an avenue that can be explored. One Alfou Marong, formerly a prominent rice researcher and producer offered local rice for sale to all his friends and family, and he not only produced great quality rice but also could come up with better yields per hectare than a state funded rice project in Sapu. One would expect that such a person would be encouraged to set up a private operation in Sapu in order to produce top quality rice and create employment in the process. A reliable source states that for whatever reason, he ended up in a small cubicle of an office in Bakau with a single stand-up fan and a colonial desk. Conventional wisdom would have told anyone that Alfou would have been much more productive generating 5.5 tons of rice per hectare in Sapu, than sitting in a dusty office in Bakau, drawing a salary, but removed from actual agricultural production activity. Where’s the trade off here? The guy clearly could have served as a useful model for the NYSS or other corps. It may not be too late to engage these folks into the private sector before they get to marry too many wives and retire into oblivion.

The Permanent Secretary at the Agricultural Secretariat, one Mr. Sidi Jarju, has no business sitting in an office. With his expertise in rice project management and level of training, he should be encouraged to set up a commercial rice production operation in a region of his choice. He still does have the energy and drive to do this. It is my understanding that he started of in the sixties as an Agricultural Assistant and worked his way up to his current standing in government. After all, if he has managed so many rice projects at tax payer’s expense and seasoned as he is in the art of rice production, he should be able to run his own commercial enterprise on a full-time basis in Tumani Fatty or Kesserr Kunda. Another person, Mr. Daniel Keni, once Manager of the Kuntaur Rice Mill in the nineteen nineties should be encouraged and supported to resuscitate and transform the mill into a processing and marketing outlet, and where feasible, create mobile processing and packing units for hire. A Serahule rice farmer, Alhaji Nimaga in Jimara, who produces plenty of rice along the river, should also be funded to expand his business so he can create employment opportunities for the youth in his native Jimara. He could procure his own packaging, process and bag his own produce or team up with a marketing company to market top quality rice to Gambian consumers. A Sandu-Garawol Enterprises could suddenly emerge as a premier Sorghum producing outfit alongside Dugu-Tigi Farms producing two crops of rain-fed and irrigated sorghum with two overseas residents as investors in the operation. We may need to bring a number of graduates from the NYSS to set up partnerships in fish farming ventures such as Njongone, Jurungku-Bakindick or Abou-Jokaa Enterprises along the river in the North Bank Region. Who says that one's last name has to be Joof or Senghore to do fish farming? For all purposes, Jinack-Kaajataa could be actively engaged in commercial fish farming ventures as opposed to the "To-For-Bally" underground economy! Consider transforming the former shrimp production scheme in Pirang and Faraba with support from a Scandinavian NGO into autonomous fish farms targeting the local market and sub-region. Producers do not have to undertake every element in-house, but they could team up with both local and foreign investors to ensure cash flow and long-term financial sustainability especially where certain tasks can be left to the most competent operators. A possible scenario is one where Gomez-Sandali Enterprises in Kombo South obtained funding from the Marlborough Group in response to a written proposal for a private pig breeding and finishing farm in Kombo Sandali. The operation will not only produce top quality breeder pigs for sale to private operators, but will also finish and slaughter hogs for the top tier of the local and regional market. Yes Pigs!! After all, ours is a secular society where everyone works to target a specific niche market generating income and employment for the benefit of all Gambians. Numerous possibilities can be presented here.

The ailing and poorly run livestock marketing abattoir must be upgraded to meet international export standards and possibly invest in an attendant poultry processing unit for local poultry producers and emerging contract growers. Focus must be made in enhancing sanitary standards and quality management aimed at reducing food contamination. This will help to broaden the scope of poultry production from what it has traditionally been in The Gambia since the sixties. A poultry processing plant in place may give rise to a flurry of activity in the area of growing meat birds for sale to the slaughter plant that in turn employs its facilities and expertise in processing and packing poultry for sale to regional markets. This activity not only puts The Gambia on the map but also could signal the start of a viable base for animal products. This vision must be broadened and policies put in place to discourage people from investing in government owned assets for other motives.

Gambia Horticultural Enterprises was founded and is being managed by a vibrant young Gambian with unrivalled experience in agricultural production and marketing. Support for similar ventures to diversify into new areas that will not only generate the tonnage, but also top quality produce that could be marketed worldwide, should be looked into with urgency. The donor community and private foundations would be more than willing to provide funding and technical expertise for GHE to set up a cold storage facility around the airport as part of a framework to support horticultural product quality management and exports from The Gambia. Why should GHE be given what would seem to be special treatment and not Fafa Cham? The answer will be based on the premise that GHE shows promise and a track record to offer the potential for success, whereas all Fafa Cham may have to offer is probably some affiliation with the Sukuta Kambeng Kaffo. GHE may also possess the expertise to transition into an agricultural produce marketing and cold storage holding company, whereas some other party may not have that capacity to offer what the economists at the Central Bank may dub comparative advantage.

An Agro-forester by the name of Malain Hydara that worked to set up woodlots in the Kerewan area, could very well replicate medium scale, commercial woodlots in the North Bank and other regions with the support of Governor’s Action Commission, The “Tankular Foundation”, The Sandu Kenniba Foundation and “The Fajara Society”, that could evolve into forest product and timber producing enterprises for sale to local outlets. Support for private agro-forestry should not only come as a goodwill gesture, but also as a model of environmental stewardship that may serve to encourage homeowners, individuals and businesses to invest in environmentally friendly programs. The multi-pronged approach to problem solving is evident in this scenario.

A commercial farm in Kombo East pioneered with Irish Potato production and made immense strides at producing and marketing hundreds of tons in The Gambia using their own label and packaging with technical support from the development arm of a European government. The expertise could be shared and replicated in other regions. Here is an area that the President, with his deep pockets and Kanilai Farms, could delve into, teaming up with local contract growers and model enterprises convened out our training institutions. Produce marketing companies, procure planting material, distribute the seed input to select contract growers who in turn produce and sell the harvest back to the company for grading, packing and sale to local and regional markets. Production could initially be geared towards local market demand with the potential for exports to neighboring countries.

Seed production can be transformed into privately run entities as is done in several developed countries. Government should not be in the business of acquiring and distributing farm inputs since it is clear from past experience that the approach is not sustainable. Does anyone remember when the local European Union office, in the 1990’s, funded seed nut purchases from Senegal and left it to The Gambia Cooperative Union to take charge of transit and distribution to local cooperative marketing societies? It was a fiasco as no one could account for the inputs at the end of the day; however, we can rest assured that money did change hands.

I cite names and agencies not in an attempt to endorse anyone for special treatment or otherwise, but to buttress the point that there is no shortage of Gambians that bear all the hallmarks of the smart minds needed to carry the vision of food self-sufficiency forward.

Social groups, party affiliated bodies and communal efforts do address specific needs and command a tremendous amount of goodwill, but are not accountable to anyone and cannot make a discernible impact in the goal for food self sufficiency. Most of the time, these entities do not reflect the realities of modern market economies, as they tend to access resources that do not exist in market driven production activities and also do not offer real-time farm gate or input prices.

The point that I wish to make here is that gone are the days of loan funded food production schemes and government administered projects that only serve to better the lot of a few politicians, hand-picked agents and a select group of public servants. How many projects have come and gone without Gambians moving one inch up the proverbial socio-economic ladder? After all, it makes for good debate that if every Gambian got their fair share of all donor funds that have been pumped into Gambian agriculture from 1965 to date, they probably would be able to purchase several more bags of food for their families today. As a matter of urgency, every Gambian must strive to think outside of the usual box where everyone looks up to government or political party of the day for support and the same government winds up with a finger in every pie and being stretched too thin. It has never worked and will never work. Think about this. We have sufficient empirical evidence dating from 1965 to date to prove this. We must all strive to build our own little enterprises with the ultimate goal of being self-employed and producing enough for the national food basket with a surplus for export to markets that will come knocking on our doors. Yes, it can be done.

Gambians of all walks of life must take it upon themselves to set up business incubators that promote support for novel businesses and work to put together private funds, through foundations and other avenues that can be employed in providing a life line for promising startups. Business incubators can also serve as springboards for private venture capital, quite different from the archaic “Think Tank” that tends to attract the higher echelons of the “what’s-in-it-for-me”, corrupted buddy groups. More often than not, one sees the same old faces at think tank meetings jockeying for clout, free trips, free dinners and honoraria from donors and NGO’s.

A slogan goes: “Motor Felleh! Ferro Beh Ming Bulu, Selleh; Ferro Te Ming Bulu, KaaNa Selleh”. Imagine how many Gambians will take advantage of the ride!

Let us broaden our horizons for our own good. We must also note that inflation has a nice way of catching up with developing countries’ economies, and what is stashed away in a nest may very well turn out to be a pittance with runaway inflation. Food production is the answer as “no one is in business unless you can put food cheaper on your family tables”. It also brings respect to oneself and sometimes, it is a lot of respect!!

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world”~Arthur Schopenhauer.

**Jallobeh Hamadi Maatong holds advanced degrees from both Africa and North America with years of experience in the fields of Health, Agriculture and Economics. Maatong now works for the United States Federal Governemnt.