The Gambia Government under President Adama Barow has given priority attention to farmers by securing over 1,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer and reducing the retail price from D2,500 to D2000.
Agriculture remains the leading contributor to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employer of our people. Prioritizing farmers means prioritizing the nation’s human security for a hungry man, according to the old English adage is an angry man.
The on-going war in Ukraine has exposed the weaknesses of the global supply chain of basic communities and the over-reliance on a particular region for agricultural production. This war and the preceding COVID-19 pandemic are a wake-up call for The Gambia and other developing nations to diversity their economies and minimize the effects of shocks in global trade.
With the timely and subsidized provision of fertilizers to our farming communities, we hope that the anticipated yield at the end of the farming season will be satisfactory provided that other factors such as adequate rainfall, pest control, farm implements and storage remain optimal.
We equally hope that other negative habits such as the smuggling of fertilizer, migration of productive populations from the farming centres, farmer-herder conflicts and theft of produce would be minimized to avoid unnecessary disruptions in the agricultural value chain.
The behavioural change should be extended to the reduction of our dependence on rain-based farming by encouraging irrigation and all-year round mix farming techniques. With our population about to hit 3 million after the 2023 population and housing census, we need to and elaborate food basket that can feed our people effectively without the expensive reliance on imports.
Government cannot do it alone and citizens are encouraged to show economic patriotism by embracing local productions and ownership. For instance, it will be a waste of tax payers’ money when government subsidizes fertilizers for farmers only for others to smuggle and sell across the borders.
