The
Gambia is facing a looming food crisis as farmers across the country experience
a total crop failure this season.
The
2011 cropping season has seen severe poor harvest of various crops in all
regions of the West African country – from rice, groundnut, maize to millet
production.
A
local chief in the North Bank Region told a group of journalists touring
EU-funded projects under the Non-state Actors Strengthening Programme that this
is the worst crop failure in 20 years.
“I have been the Chief of Jokadu district for more than two decades, but I have not seen this kind of crop failure in the past 20 years,” Chief Jim Fatima Jobe said. “Our groundnuts have not matured enough to fill the shells and are not fit to serve as seedlings for the next cropping season.”
Chief Jobe displays poor groundnut seeds from the year's harvest |
As
a result, Mr. Jobe said livelihoods have been threatened. “The people of this
region are mainly depended on farming for their survival but our livelihoods
have been shattered,” he said.
“Our only hope of survival and seedlings for the next cropping season lies in the hands of the government or donors.”
Towards
the beginning of the 2011 cropping season, The Gambia’s Metrology Office
forecasted that the rains will be late but will be more than normal. It also predicted
there will be good agricultural productivity.
However,
farmers in four regions of The
Gambia - the West Coast, Lower River, Central River and North Bank regions –
are witnessing the opposite as of November 2011.
95% of rice production
failed
A
technical adviser of The Gambia Rice Expansion Project who is based at Si Kunda
village in the Jarra district of the Lower River Region, said the improved rice
variety, NERICA, has failed.
The
farmers here [at Si Kunda] cultivated 42 hectares of Nerica rice under the
auspices of the project but 95% of their total rice production failed due to erratic
rains,” Sunkary Dampha said.
“All
the upland rice fields at the village are not good. The only good rice farms
are those in lowland [swampy] areas and even those ones have under-performed
compared to recent years.”
Women and men at Samba Njabeh village heading to a farm to show produce of early millet from the community farm (Photo Credit: Modou S. Joof) |
The
people of Si Kunda have been generally food secure over the years and have been
producing enough rice to feed themselves. However, one farmer said the crop
failure means they have been rendered food insecure.
According
to Mr. Dampha, over the years the people here [at the village] hardly buy
imported rice when the rains are good. He said a hectare of rice can produce up
to three tons.
The season is bad
Wally Ndaw, chairman of Samba Njabeh village development committee, described this year’s cropping season as bad.
“The
[cropping] season is bad. We cultivated early millet, maize and groundnut but
the outcome is far below our expectations. We have never experienced such a
massive crop failure,” Mr. Ndaw said.
Up to 70 percent of Gambia’s 1.5 million population living in rural communities are expected to deal with a food crisis has every potential to be severe. Farmers said they are only hoping to rely on government and donor support to see them through.
- Author: Modou S. Joof
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