Last weekend marked International Women's Day during the vegetable growing season, highlighting how women drive our economy. Gambian women handle over 90% of vegetable production and marketing, yet this farming sector lacks proper support.
The Gambia faces a strange situation. Our land works great for growing vegetables, but prices stay sky-high, and supply never meets demand. We import many vegetables we could easily grow here. Take onions - we buy them from as far away as Holland, despite what Dr. Ismaela Ceesay claims. These imports cost a fortune when our soil could produce abundant onion crops rivaling almost any country.
Onions represent just one example of what Gambian farms could grow well. Tomatoes, bitter tomatoes, eggplants, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and pepper thrive in local conditions. However, high prices stem from limited supply caused by numerous obstacles facing women farmers.
Water access creates a major challenge for vegetable growers. Most farming happens during dry seasons when irrigation becomes necessary. Many villages still force women to draw water by hand from wells. This exhausting manual labor makes no sense when modern borehole technology exists.
Even gardens with boreholes often lack adequate water supply. Many villages implement alternate watering schedules where farmers who water plants today must skip tomorrow to share limited resources with others. This inconsistent irrigation severely limits crop potential.
Free-roaming animals create another serious problem. Cattle and goats wander freely during dry seasons, threatening garden plots. Without proper fencing, animals destroy the hard work of vegetable farmers, who lose entire harvests to hungry livestock.
Marketing creates difficulties even after successful harvests. Farmers often receive extremely low prices when everyone sells simultaneously. This happens because farmers lack storage facilities. With proper storage, farmers could delay sales during price drops and extend vegetable availability throughout the year.
Storage matters less for onions, which last weeks at room temperature but proves critical for tomatoes and similar produce. Right this moment, tons of tomatoes rot in gardens across the country. Farmers sell these tomatoes at terrible prices because they cannot store them safely. Better storage helps both marketing and health by keeping germs from growing on vegetables.
Access to quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides creates additional hardships. Farmers regularly buy seeds that never sprout because sellers store them poorly. Fertilizer costs skyrocket outside rainy seasons, and pesticides cost even more. These expensive, unreliable inputs hurt both the quantity and quality of market vegetables.
The government should help introduce new seed varieties better suited to local conditions. Current onion varieties grow only during dry seasons, but varieties elsewhere thrive during rainy seasons. Bringing these to Gambian farmers would transform agriculture nationwide.
Officials know these problems exist. Why do they persist? Are solutions just expensive? Individual villages cannot afford proper fencing, irrigation, and storage. However, the national government could easily fund these improvements.
Research shows The Gambia has approximately 160 communal vegetable gardens of at least 1 hectare. These average about 3 hectares each, with roughly 300 farmers per settlement working these plots. Based on current prices, solving irrigation, fencing, and storage problems for all communal gardens would cost under D500 million.
This amount represents less than 25% of what the government spends on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 2025 budget. The government clearly misplaces priorities by funding unnecessary embassies instead of helping farmers who contribute critically to the economy.
Fixing vegetable production would address both food security and poverty. More vegetables mean better nutrition for families who grow their food instead of buying it. Fresh produce provides healthier options than current alternatives most people consume.
Vegetable farming directly reduces poverty when it becomes less physically demanding. Production increases and costs drop, making vegetables more affordable for everyone. This lowers the overall cost of living. Higher production at lower costs also creates opportunities for food processing businesses.
Youth unemployment decreases when barriers to farming drop. Many young Gambians avoid agriculture because it traditionally means hard work with minimal rewards. Improved infrastructure makes horticulture highly profitable and attractive to youth looking for career opportunities.
Local vegetable production reduces expensive imports. Each year, Gambia spends millions importing onions and other vegetables we could grow here. These imports pressure our currency, causing higher inflation rates that hurt everyone.
The solutions for agricultural challenges, especially in horticulture, seem obvious and achievable. What's missing? Political willpower and capability from the current administration. Implementing these changes would far better show genuine appreciation for Gambian women than empty statements from politicians who never visit village gardens on International Women's Day.
The Gambia faces a strange situation. Our land works great for growing vegetables, but prices stay sky-high, and supply never meets demand. We import many vegetables we could easily grow here. Take onions - we buy them from as far away as Holland, despite what Dr. Ismaela Ceesay claims. These imports cost a fortune when our soil could produce abundant onion crops rivaling almost any country.
Onions represent just one example of what Gambian farms could grow well. Tomatoes, bitter tomatoes, eggplants, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and pepper thrive in local conditions. However, high prices stem from limited supply caused by numerous obstacles facing women farmers.
Water access creates a major challenge for vegetable growers. Most farming happens during dry seasons when irrigation becomes necessary. Many villages still force women to draw water by hand from wells. This exhausting manual labor makes no sense when modern borehole technology exists.
Even gardens with boreholes often lack adequate water supply. Many villages implement alternate watering schedules where farmers who water plants today must skip tomorrow to share limited resources with others. This inconsistent irrigation severely limits crop potential.
Free-roaming animals create another serious problem. Cattle and goats wander freely during dry seasons, threatening garden plots. Without proper fencing, animals destroy the hard work of vegetable farmers, who lose entire harvests to hungry livestock.
Marketing creates difficulties even after successful harvests. Farmers often receive extremely low prices when everyone sells simultaneously. This happens because farmers lack storage facilities. With proper storage, farmers could delay sales during price drops and extend vegetable availability throughout the year.
Storage matters less for onions, which last weeks at room temperature but proves critical for tomatoes and similar produce. Right this moment, tons of tomatoes rot in gardens across the country. Farmers sell these tomatoes at terrible prices because they cannot store them safely. Better storage helps both marketing and health by keeping germs from growing on vegetables.
Access to quality seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides creates additional hardships. Farmers regularly buy seeds that never sprout because sellers store them poorly. Fertilizer costs skyrocket outside rainy seasons, and pesticides cost even more. These expensive, unreliable inputs hurt both the quantity and quality of market vegetables.
The government should help introduce new seed varieties better suited to local conditions. Current onion varieties grow only during dry seasons, but varieties elsewhere thrive during rainy seasons. Bringing these to Gambian farmers would transform agriculture nationwide.
Officials know these problems exist. Why do they persist? Are solutions just expensive? Individual villages cannot afford proper fencing, irrigation, and storage. However, the national government could easily fund these improvements.
Research shows The Gambia has approximately 160 communal vegetable gardens of at least 1 hectare. These average about 3 hectares each, with roughly 300 farmers per settlement working these plots. Based on current prices, solving irrigation, fencing, and storage problems for all communal gardens would cost under D500 million.
This amount represents less than 25% of what the government spends on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the 2025 budget. The government clearly misplaces priorities by funding unnecessary embassies instead of helping farmers who contribute critically to the economy.
Fixing vegetable production would address both food security and poverty. More vegetables mean better nutrition for families who grow their food instead of buying it. Fresh produce provides healthier options than current alternatives most people consume.
Vegetable farming directly reduces poverty when it becomes less physically demanding. Production increases and costs drop, making vegetables more affordable for everyone. This lowers the overall cost of living. Higher production at lower costs also creates opportunities for food processing businesses.
Youth unemployment decreases when barriers to farming drop. Many young Gambians avoid agriculture because it traditionally means hard work with minimal rewards. Improved infrastructure makes horticulture highly profitable and attractive to youth looking for career opportunities.
Local vegetable production reduces expensive imports. Each year, Gambia spends millions importing onions and other vegetables we could grow here. These imports pressure our currency, causing higher inflation rates that hurt everyone.
The solutions for agricultural challenges, especially in horticulture, seem obvious and achievable. What's missing? Political willpower and capability from the current administration. Implementing these changes would far better show genuine appreciation for Gambian women than empty statements from politicians who never visit village gardens on International Women's Day.
