Food self-sufficiency is a serious quest in the Gambia and experts say its attainable if proper attention and support is accorded to those who are venturing in the sector.
Many food producers are making headway in the sector but limited support and the drudgery of resource needs is increasingly affecting willingness to embrace the sector.
On a committed national duty to strengthen the country’s desire for food sufficiency and nutrition, the agriculture ministry is rolling out multiple schemes with support from partners to expand support to farmers in all sectors across the country from food production to animal husbandry.
The delegation first inspected a four-hectare groundnut farm at Essau, Daru Rilwan and a mega maize farm at Mecca Farafenniin the North Bank Region as part of the project.
At the various sites visited, officials and beneficiaries shared ideas on areas of critical concern needing urgent action to make the future of agriculture brighter.
The delegation led by Permanent Secretary Mod Secka also inspected ruminant farms before heading to the SapuAgricultural Centre and Pacharr rice fields where officials were briefed on the level of works.
Officials will visit other intervention sites in the coming days as the cropping season eases into the harvest period set to increase fresh food and new supplies for export and market needs
ENDING DEPENDENCY ON RICE IMPORTS
Maruo Farms, a private company investing in rice cultivation is significantly contributing to rice production in the country with a focused business strategy to leverage its output in order to minimize the dependence rice importation.
With recent support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and partners like the GIRAV project under the Ministry of Agriculture, the rice production farm supported over two hundred farmers in the Central River Region to produce seven hundred tons of rice.
The initiative aimed at reducing the high dependency on imported rice and increase farmers’ income is moving to promote local varieties in the market with high yields offering immense value to Gambian rice.
The value chain agreement has significantly boosted the production capacity of Maruo Farms ensuring timely provision of inputs such as seedlings and fertilizers to farmers alongside rehabilitation of tidal irrigation canals.
On a recent tour of project intervention sites across the country, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture led by the Permanent Secretary, Mod Secka assessed rice cultivation sites to review the level of progress and challenges.
Challenges such as inadequate canals and other technical hitches were highlighted by the Chief Executive Officer; Musa Darboe, who expressed the need for urgent action to boost national production levels.
With financial support from the government, the farm is able to buy all produce on sale and package it to international standards for local consumption.
Private investors like Maruo Farms are what the country needs to boost agriculture in the country particularly in rice production to minimise high dependency on imported rice.
Statistics place the country’s rice production in 2021 at forty-one thousand and nine hundred tonnes with substantial fluctuations in recent years which tended to increase between 1972 and 2021.
To boost rice production and push for food sufficiency, experts say drainage time needs to be satisfactorily controlled during the rainy and dry seasons, and farmers must be able to take advantage of flooding and ebbing tides in order to increase rice output.
They also recommended training farmers in effective rice cultivation techniques.
