By Aji Fatou Jammeh
The Bakau Women Horticultural Garden has been in existence for more than 30 years. It comprises both men and women but majority of the gardeners are women. The length of the garden is about 7 hectares.
Inadequate vegetable seeds, water, insecticides, garden materials, storage facilities, and lack of competitive market, as well as lack of fence are affecting the agricultural sector; especially horticulture.
The common vegetables grown at the garden include tomatoes, onions, cabbage, sweet pepper, carrots, and garden egg, among others. The women also cultivate rice during the rainy season, and do gardening in the dry season.
Binta Marong, who spent more than 30 years at the Bakau women’s garden, said they are faced with many constraints which include lack of proper wells. She lamented that most of their wells are running out of water on a daily basis which has forced many of the gardeners to go to work very early to have water because the wells run out before mid day.
“We derive a lot of benefits from this garden; this is where I feed my family; pay for the children’s education and health bills. We are engaged in farming all year round,’’ she said.
Fatou Gaye and Fatou Ndure made similar comments, calling on agricultural partners and agencies as well as the government to come to their aid.
Amie, an extension worker said the garden was established in the 90s. Highlighting the challenges faced by the gardeners, she said they struggle with lack of storage facility which is necessary to prevent their produce from getting perished after harvesting. She noted the presence of insects which attack crops and destroy them.
Amie called on the government to help them with boreholes and seeds as those are very expensive. She said some of the gardeners do not have seeds to grow for this year’s season production.
The extension worker noted that they also need decomposed manure/organic manure, since the Ministry of Agriculture is advocating for farmers to stop using chemical fertilizer which is harmful for their health.
