Recent news shows how little the current government cares about farming. VP Muhammad Jallow said the government gave Yonna and GACH contracts for 180 tractors. Agriculture Minister Demba Sabally blamed bad groundnut harvests on poor seeds and changing rain patterns. These stories might seem normal at first. Look deeper though, and you see why we cannot expect the Barrow government to help farmers or fix agriculture.
Minister Sabally talked about low groundnut yields like this was new information. But groundnut production has been going down for many years. Blaming rain and seeds misses the main question. Why has the government failed to address these known problems? The government could have stepped in to help but did nothing.
Gambian groundnuts sell for much less money worldwide than before. This happens because they contain aflatoxin, which makes them unsafe. Europe bans these contaminated nuts from human and animal food markets. We've known about this problem for over 20 years. Solutions exist to fix aflatoxin contamination. The government has never tried hard to solve this major issue.
Any serious government would tackle aflatoxin contamination to help farmers earn more money. They might also encourage farmers to grow different cash crops. Fixing this problem would protect public health since aflatoxin causes serious health issues. Sabally mentions irregular rain as if this surprises anyone. Gambian farms depend on rainfall because the government never invested in irrigation systems.
The little irrigation equipment provided by outside partners sits broken and unused. Does Minister Sabally not know his job includes helping poor farmers get quality seeds? His only answer was to wait for foreign donors to help. This shows how useless these officials are. They act like their main job is managing foreign aid rather than solving national problems.
Good irrigation would reduce the harm when rain patterns change. Farmers could grow vegetables or other crops when groundnuts fail. Better seed varieties that resist known farming problems would also limit damage from changing weather. The Minister never told the Assembly another way they hurt farmers. Many farmers still wait for payment after selling their groundnuts.
This happens every year where farmers wait months to receive money after dropping off their crops. Making things worse, the government forced farmers to receive payments through Qmoney, which created huge problems for most farmers. Last year, Minister Sabally proudly promised those 180 tractors would arrive before the rainy season. President Barrow made the same promise.
The tractors never came. Neither Barrow nor Sabally ever said sorry to farmers for breaking their promise. When asked about the delay, VP Jallow simply said there were "some issues." This shows complete disrespect for his responsibilities. These badly needed machines would have helped farmers enormously. The rainy season passed without this equipment.
Given the chance to explain this important failure, all the Vice President could say was "some issues." The real reason for the delay might embarrass the government. From reliable sources, I heard the first bidding process went well, with Yonna winning fairly. Then pressure came from the State House to include GACH, partly owned by Abubakary Jawara.
This pressure to include a politically connected businessman apparently caused the procurement delay. They had to restart the entire process. The government blocked or delayed needed tractors just to reward friends with connections. Does that sound like leaders who care about national progress? Officials should release all details about this tractor deal. Assembly members should call everyone involved to explain what happened.
We should expect such behavior. This government regularly rewards political friends at the expense of everyone else. They took protected forest land and gave it to Abubakary Jawara for his basalt business, even though he could buy land like any other businessman. They pushed Gambian entrepreneurs out of cement importing to benefit Jah Oil. Many more examples exist.
The tractor deal shows again how a small group of connected businessmen matters more than the entire country. Gambian agriculture remains stuck because of what this government does and fails to do. Having Demba Sabally as Agriculture Minister proves they care little about farming. Nobody outside NPP leadership believes Sabally belongs anywhere near that ministry.
He holds this important position without any farming knowledge or skills. His only qualification? Leaving the GDC party. His ministry job serves as a political reward that hurts agriculture by keeping qualified people out. President Barrow seems happy with this arrangement. Should anyone feel shocked that The Gambia makes little progress in agriculture?
Minister Sabally talked about low groundnut yields like this was new information. But groundnut production has been going down for many years. Blaming rain and seeds misses the main question. Why has the government failed to address these known problems? The government could have stepped in to help but did nothing.
Gambian groundnuts sell for much less money worldwide than before. This happens because they contain aflatoxin, which makes them unsafe. Europe bans these contaminated nuts from human and animal food markets. We've known about this problem for over 20 years. Solutions exist to fix aflatoxin contamination. The government has never tried hard to solve this major issue.
Any serious government would tackle aflatoxin contamination to help farmers earn more money. They might also encourage farmers to grow different cash crops. Fixing this problem would protect public health since aflatoxin causes serious health issues. Sabally mentions irregular rain as if this surprises anyone. Gambian farms depend on rainfall because the government never invested in irrigation systems.
The little irrigation equipment provided by outside partners sits broken and unused. Does Minister Sabally not know his job includes helping poor farmers get quality seeds? His only answer was to wait for foreign donors to help. This shows how useless these officials are. They act like their main job is managing foreign aid rather than solving national problems.
Good irrigation would reduce the harm when rain patterns change. Farmers could grow vegetables or other crops when groundnuts fail. Better seed varieties that resist known farming problems would also limit damage from changing weather. The Minister never told the Assembly another way they hurt farmers. Many farmers still wait for payment after selling their groundnuts.
This happens every year where farmers wait months to receive money after dropping off their crops. Making things worse, the government forced farmers to receive payments through Qmoney, which created huge problems for most farmers. Last year, Minister Sabally proudly promised those 180 tractors would arrive before the rainy season. President Barrow made the same promise.
The tractors never came. Neither Barrow nor Sabally ever said sorry to farmers for breaking their promise. When asked about the delay, VP Jallow simply said there were "some issues." This shows complete disrespect for his responsibilities. These badly needed machines would have helped farmers enormously. The rainy season passed without this equipment.
Given the chance to explain this important failure, all the Vice President could say was "some issues." The real reason for the delay might embarrass the government. From reliable sources, I heard the first bidding process went well, with Yonna winning fairly. Then pressure came from the State House to include GACH, partly owned by Abubakary Jawara.
This pressure to include a politically connected businessman apparently caused the procurement delay. They had to restart the entire process. The government blocked or delayed needed tractors just to reward friends with connections. Does that sound like leaders who care about national progress? Officials should release all details about this tractor deal. Assembly members should call everyone involved to explain what happened.
We should expect such behavior. This government regularly rewards political friends at the expense of everyone else. They took protected forest land and gave it to Abubakary Jawara for his basalt business, even though he could buy land like any other businessman. They pushed Gambian entrepreneurs out of cement importing to benefit Jah Oil. Many more examples exist.
The tractor deal shows again how a small group of connected businessmen matters more than the entire country. Gambian agriculture remains stuck because of what this government does and fails to do. Having Demba Sabally as Agriculture Minister proves they care little about farming. Nobody outside NPP leadership believes Sabally belongs anywhere near that ministry.
He holds this important position without any farming knowledge or skills. His only qualification? Leaving the GDC party. His ministry job serves as a political reward that hurts agriculture by keeping qualified people out. President Barrow seems happy with this arrangement. Should anyone feel shocked that The Gambia makes little progress in agriculture?
