By Haddy Touray
The Gambia Farmers Union (GFU) executive has commended the management of the National Food Security Processing Marketing Corporation, formerly called GGC, and expressed appreciation to the government of President Adama Barrow for providing the necessary support during last year’s groundnut season.
On Friday, the union executive disclosed that in 2023 bag of fertilizer was sold for D1,150, representing a significant reduction compared to the 2022 price of D2000.
The bumper harvest of groundnut this year is associated with the competitive price and availability of quality fertilizer.
The government initially earmarked D500 million but ended up spending D1.4 billion to purchase groundnuts at D38,000 per ton, surpassing the global price by D18,000.
The Union expressed gratitude for the Gambia government’s continuous support of Gambian farmers. The union commended the government for providing quality and affordable fertilizer for them and for increasing the price of groundnut every year.
The Union President Alieu Bah said the country’s farmers are very proud of the corporation’s continuous support for them over the past years.
“As farmers, we are aware of the huge sum of money (D1.4 billion) spent on purchasing nuts alone this season, which is historic. Therefore, we want to thank the government for spending that much on us,” he said.
He disclosed that President Adama Barrow had fulfilled his promise of empowering Gambian farmers.
Mr. Bah said his team visited the president sometime last year to discuss the plight of farmers, and during the meeting, the president promised to reduce the price of fertilizer, which was fulfilled.
The Vice President of the Union, Alagie Ceesay, commended the government and President Barrow for appointing Muhammad Njie as Managing Director of the National Food Security Processing Marketing Corporation.
Modou Njie, the union’s secretary general, highlighted the importance of teamwork and urged them to continue the collaboration and hard work to build a country fit for purpose.
Lamin Sanyang, the Deputy Managing Director of the Corporation, said NFSPMC will never progress without the farmers while assuring them of continuing to give the best of services.
As a management team, he said they are dedicated to supporting the agenda of the President in making life better for all the farmers.
“I can assure you 100% that the President is fully committed to making the farmers happy. I also want to remind you that last year alone, the President gave the farming community the Smart Farming Initiative, which is historic. In the same year, he broke his record by paying the farmers the best price in the history of our nation,” he added.