United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), under the framework of West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP), provided the country’s first-ever standard onion curing and storage facility for the women gardeners in Foni Berefet, West Coast Region. The project was funded by the European Union.
Preservation of perishable products like onions has been a huge challenge for the farming communities in the Gambia over several decades. The condition has forced producers to sell their produce at undesirable price in various Gambian markets, not fully enjoying the benefits of their seasonal labour.
Malamin Drammeh, National Horticulture Value Chain Expert for UNIDO and WACOMP, said the implementation of the project has followed the food safety and quality assurance guidelines throughout the construction processes.
He said that to bridge the gap of onion importation into the country, they had to conduct a rapid market analysis to gather ideas of the whole cycle.
“Our market analysis has shown the onion consumption of the Gambia to be at 17,000.00 metric tons. The analysis has shown that onion production in the Gambia has fall below that quantity. About 12,000 metric tons were imported in that year of 2021,” he said. “This storage facility can handle over 20,000 metric tons for preservation. The onion storage facility will prevent gardeners from selling their products at giveaway prices so that they will reap the benefits of their hard labour. The women are also trained to understand the post-harvest practices of onion production,” he stated.
Karafanding Badjie, president of Berefet Women Gardeners, said they have taken ownership of the project because the training given to them had given them the understanding to comply with the best practices of onion production.
She assured the funding and implementing partners that the community will make the best use of the facility provided for them.
Ramatoulie Giggo, Director of Horticulture Technical Services, and Bakary Gassama, Regional Agriculture Director for West Coast, both underscored the importance of the project to the women gardeners. They expressed their satisfaction with the commitment shown by the Berefet women gardeners towards the successful realisation of the project.
It could be recalled that the Berefet Women Gardeners were awarded the winner for the Fatu Network Heroes Awards under the Agricultural Leadership.
