High Value Agriculture for Accelerated Growth

Farming for farming sake will not change the livelihood of rural Gambians nor will it be a boost for the reduction of poverty and unemployment in the youth population. The Gambia has been a traditional agrarian society with much emphasis on subsistence farming. The introduction of colonialism brought about cash crop farming and rain fed groundnut was the major cash crop cultivated. This legacy was inherited post independence and we have been registering dwindling groundnut yields perennially.  The current investment into the planting season for groundnuts does not commensurate with the returns. Therefore, seasonal farming does not give farmers adequate income to sustain their livelihoods year round. Rain fed agriculture is not viable long term considering recent weather patterns, global warming and the advancement of the Sahel into our arable lands.

The establishment of a viable agribusiness sector that is not groundnut based  as “peanuts is peanuts” will be the only way to accelerate the emergence  of sustained commercial farming in the Gambia. The promotion of organic horticulture and floriculture for exports will boost our GDP statistics and increase the much needed hard currency to pay for our import bill. The government of the Gambia should make a concerted effort to zone the Gambia into Agricultural belts with specialized emphasis on the types of crop to be cultivated in each zone and the rationale for such an approach is to increase yields, make agriculture a year round vocation and reduce unemployment particularly in the youth folk. The Western Region of the Gambia is within range of the airport and should be designated as a horticultural/floricultural zone where organic vegetable produce will be cultivated for exports to European markets. Currently, Radville farm is exporting organic produce but there is room for more farms to venture into this market. Flowers especially chrysanthemum and roses are in high demand in Western Europe and in the winter months, the European markets source its supplies as far away as Kenya. Gambia therefore need to take advantage of its geoproximity to Western Europe and offer flowers by air to European destinations in the winter months. The central river and North Bank region of the country should focus on rice cultivation because the topography of these areas are suitable for the cultivation of upland rice and the river can be used for the irrigation of the fields. Upper river region can be used for the establishment of orchards and banana plantations. Most of our Mango produce and bananas ends up in the Senegalese markets and the southern route corridor of Tamba Counda/Wellingara connects seamlessly to Basse. The cultivation of rice should not be targeted for rice sufficiency but rather an import substitution strategy to help minimize the import bill of the country. Focusing on rice self sufficiency will take away significant resources from high value produce that can earn us more per hectare than rice. A comprehensive agricultural strategy that takes full advantage of our physical global position relative to mature markets of Western Europe, the availability of virgin arable lands for the cultivation of organic produce and an abundance of unskilled youths who can be easily deployed to farming ventures makes Gambia an ideal candidate to boost its agricultural sector. This can be achieved in the short to medium term if the will to side step groundnut as a cash crop is there.