By: Nyima Sillah
Janjanbureh legislator Omar Jammeh, who is also a member of the National Assembly Agriculture Committee, has stated thatgovernment’s decision to pay farmers through Q-Money was made with good intentions.
He added that the decision was made to protect the groundnut farmers but emphasized that the Ministry of Agriculture needs to fulfill its responsibility of engaging with farmers.
“We understand the frustration that farmers are experiencing. This decision was made with good intentions to ensure our farmers are protected. Some Secco presidents owe farmers over D100,000 or even 200,000, which is a common problem due to a shortage of funds. We believe that digitalizing the payments will address this issue. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Agriculture must actively engage with farmers and stakeholders to ensure the process is effective, efficient, and accessible for them to receive their money,” NAM Jammeh told The Voice in an interview.
According to him, the decision stemmed from a lack of trustbetween the Secco presidents and the bank clerk responsible for handling the money. This situation, he continued, prompted a tour during which they visited all the Seccos in the country to speak with Secco presidents and cooperatives involved in the transactions.
“Upon returning and after discussions with these individuals, we concluded that it was necessary to shift from direct cash transactions to digital cash transfers. We developed a report, which included resolutions that we presented in the preliminary session at the National Assembly. One of our key recommendations was to eliminate direct cash transactions between farmers and Secco presidents,” he explained.
The Janjanbureh lawmaker emphasized that while the National Assembly did not specifically recommend Q-Money, they did advocate for digital cash transfers for peanut purchases to occureither through Wave or Q-Money.
“These resolutions were tabled before the plenary, which adopted them. The Ministry of Agriculture is now working to implement these changes. Although the resolution comes from the National Assembly, we do not enforce policies or laws; our role is to legislate. We expect the Ministry of Agriculture to engage with farmers, consult them, and determine what solutions would be most applicable to their needs,” he concluded.