By: Haddy Touray
Scores of groundnut farmers have called on the Gambia government to increase the farmgate price of groundnut this trade season.
Many Gambian farmers were keenly anticipating joyous tidings from the President as regards the farmgate price of groundnut as he tours the country but they were disappointed when it became apparent that the government had no plans to augment the farmgate price this year.
Last year, groundnut farmers heaped praises on the government for buying their peanuts at the attractive farmgate price of D38,000 per ton and at the outset of his nationwide tour, President Adama Barrow indicated that he had a news that if broadcast, farmers would jump for joy.
“My computer is yet to heat up but once it did, farmers would be delighted by its input,” the president said in one of his community meetings in the North Bank Region.
However, the president later announced that no changes would be made to last year’s groundnut price of D38,000 per ton.
This announcement was met with gloom and sadness in many farming communities as it dashed their hopes of an enhanced farmgate price this year.
Many groundnut farmers across the country have expressed disappointment in the president’s announcement, saying that the price does not reflect the realities on the ground. They called on the president to rescind government’s position and consider their plight.
Farmer in Niani Banni in the Central River Region Saikou Dahaba rued that the president’s announcement of groundnut price fell short of farmers’ expectations, arguing that if government fails to increase groundnut prices, many farmers will be left with no other choice but to sell their nuts across the border in Senegal. Senegal, he added, is paying more per ton of groundnuts.
According to him, the Senegalese government is said to be offering more than D40, 000 for a tonnage of groundnut, adding that the Gambia government should offer a new price if groundnut farmers are to optimally benefit from their labour and input costs.
“We are not impressed with the price announced by the President because it doesn’t favor us, looking at the high cost of inputs. We are advising the government to rescind the announcement, engage stakeholders and come up with a price that will take the plight of the farmers into consideration,” Musa Jaiteh, a groundnut farmer residing at Taifa village, told The Voice.
“Looking at the high cost of basic commodities and increment of allowances of the President and civil servants, it’s unfathomable that groundnut prices will remain the same as last year’s. I am of the strong belief that if government fails to increase the prices of groundnut, farmers will not sell their nuts to the Seccos and many will prefer selling their nuts to middlemen,” he added.
Jaiteh observed that farmers cannot force government to increase the farmgate price of groundnut but was quick to add that the government cannot force farmers to sell their nuts at the Seccos.
A Secco manager, who spoke to this medium on condition of anonymity, said the Gambian leader should be “considerate” to Gambian farmers and increase the groundnut price, arguing that prices of everything had increased in the country. The manager said the stagnant groundnut price will adversely affect the income of farmers and government’s revenue base, adding that if the price remains constant, many farmers will resort to selling their nuts to middlemen or even to Senegal at a more attractive price.
