By: Nyima Sillah
Several Women Gardeners over the weekend expressed various challenges and low sales on their cultivated crops due to the spread of COVID-19 Pandemic.
Mama Sanneh, a gardener explained that since Covid-19 started she has been encountering challenges on her business because traders that buy items from her are facing limited sales in the market. Also, sometimes they found it difficult to finish there and this always results in losses for them or low profit to come back to buy again.
She added that her business has completely gone down to zero because the number of crops she used to cultivate has been minimized to avoid waste crops
“I don’t wait for customers no more instead I harvest my own crops and go to the market to look for customers and before the Covid-19 we wait for costumers in our gardens”, she explained.
Meanwhile Tomato Cultivator, Aminatta Fatty, explained that among all vegetables tomatoes are the easiest vegetables to lose its value within one if it is not properly store especially in this hot weather.
She noted that they don’t have all the facilities to produce the crops into another use “when it loses its value so we encounter a great lost in such cases”
She said her source of income has been ruined by the pandemic because business is no more the same on her side. “I depend on this business to feed my family and take care of my needs because my husband is old and he needs my support”, she added.
However she said even though market is operating, they still face challenges because before the Covid-19 they used to receive orders for fresh vegetables from the hotels. Which is different from their customers in the market that approach them on daily bases but now everything is on standstill.
Musu Kebba added that, “We also need help from the government because gardening is our only source of income and most of the women gardeners are the bread winners of their families so we are facing a lot in this trying time”, she said.