Lamin, thanks for the forwarded material below and I agree we need to
diversify our agricultural output. Groundnuts alone is not going to sustain
our development. Our farmers can produce other corps. However, we cannot
expect them to change overnight when the government cannot even help them
with the suggested crossover. It is this same government that chased away
those that purchased the nuts. It is this same government that made all
sorts of promises to these farmers that they will buy or make arrangements
for the farmers to sell their crops. Yes, our farmers need to diversify,
but what are we going to do with their crops, now? They have mouths to
feed, loans to repay, and kids to school. What are they to do? SOS Sallah
ran his mouth recently that credit buying will soon be a thing of the past
and all should be paid by March or so. Yet another lie to the farmers. You
watch, they will soon come up with another gimmick to buy time and that
would find the farmers at the doorstep of the planting season, only for the
government to come up with another promise. Like the number the government
played on the Tourist industry, the Customs, Hajj tours, etc., our farmers
are going through the same inefficiency that is the trademark of this
government - downright good for nothing. They only know how to dismantle or
suck something dry.
Chi Jaama
Joe Sambou
>From: Lamin Sanyang <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Peanut blues in Senegal
>Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 02:13:50 +0000
>
>Brother Joe i understand The Gambia Government is on IMF prescription: The
>medication dosage reads: Privatization! The IMF directives mean, The Gambia
>Government CANNOT step in and buy the farmers' groundnuts. One thing the
>government CAN do IMHO, is to make some agrarian reforms by introducing an
>alternative to peanut production! Neighboring Senegal is going through a
>similar crisis. Please read on!
>
>
>Low Graphics Friday, 24 May, 2002, 15:08 GMT 16:08 UK
>Peanut blues in Senegal
>
>
>Farmers earn only 20 US cents a kilo for their crop
>
>
>
>By Chris Simpson
>BBC Dakar reporter
>
>
>
>Forget about fishing and tourism, the average Senegalese lives - literally
>-
>on peanuts. Of course, fishing and tourism play important roles in the
>Senegalese economy.
>
>When you are planting, you think this year I will marry a woman... But then
>at the end of the harvest, your crop is not sold.
>
>
>Mbaye Faye, Co-operative manager
>But it is the peanut crop which keeps hundreds of thousands of peasant
>farmers in the fields. It provides a modest means of support for their
>families now and probably for generations to come. And nowhere is the
>dependence on peanuts more apparent than in Kaolack.
>
>The city calls itself a crossroads, a natural trading centre, whose market
>includes huge stocks of gold, cloth and electrical equipment. But there are
>also peanut farmers and traders in evidence - for Kaolack is the capital of
>Senegal's "peanut basin".
>
>Worried farmers
>
>As secretary-general of the local chamber of commerce, Amadou Traore sees
>at
>first-hand just how important a thriving peanut sector is to the local
>economy. He says that if there are any problems with Senegal's leading cash
>crop, the impact locally will be huge. Mr Traore acknowledges that things
>are unsettled at the moment, for this is a period of change and
>experimentation.
>
>The reforms have been a long time coming but are now beginning to have a
>serious impact. Farmers say they feel vulnerable since the government
>stopped subsidies.
>
>Sonacos, the state-run company, which has dominated the peanut economy for
>years is being privatised. Its subsidiary, Sonagraines, which used to
>collect farmers' harvests and take them to the processing plants, has
>already been dissolved.
>
>President Abdoulaye Wade has warned that the days of guaranteed state
>subsidies are over.
>
>On a recent visit to Kaolack, Mr Wade received a warm reception.
>But there were also banners on display, urging him not to abandon farmers.
>Farmers felt vulnerable and needed reassurance.
>
>Fixed price
>
>One man in a position to offer explanations and support is Ibrahima Fall.
>
>He is the local head of the Senegalese Union of Agricultural Cooperatives,
>(UNCAS), which looks after the interests of peasant farmers in over 4,500
>villages.
>
>UNCAS arranges for peasants to be paid a fixed price of 120 CFAS francs,
>around 20 US cents, for a kilo of nuts. Mr Fall is convinced any traumas
>will be temporary and the changes will work in the long run.
>
>"As for this year's harvest , it's no secret that there was a deficit of
>about 65 billion CFA francs, $100 million.
>
>"It couldn't go on like that. All the different stakeholders got together
>at
>a meeting in Louga and we are now making a fresh start".
>
>Cash on delivery
>
>But at the Kaolack-Touba cooperative, producers are less optimistic.
>
>This is the height of the "commercialisation" period, when peanuts are
>brought into depots for storage and then sent out to factories.
>
>At Kaolack-Touba, rusty, out-moded processing machines work on the nuts
>which have come in. But farmers are more worried about how to get their
>crops to the factories. Sonagraines' demise means they are dealing with a
>new system where the factories pay on delivery.
>
>UNCAS would like to organise its own transport system, but does not have
>the
>necessary capital.
>
>Cooperative President Cheikh Dieng says private operators are now coming in
>and buying up farmers' stocks at lower prices because they cannot go
>through
>the usual channels. The Kaolack-Touba team hopes new actors and systems
>will
>emerge in time.
>
>But at the moment, business is down.
>
>The co-operative's manager, Mbaye Faye, says that means everybody suffers.
>
>"We hope there will be an improvement. The rural population has explained
>how it is suffering.
>
>"We are waiting for money. People in the rural areas live off agriculture
>and we have our ambitions.
>
>"When you are working, you think this year I will buy a bed, this year I
>will buy a radio set, this year I will marry a woman.
>
>"But then at the end of the harvest and after you take your crop to
>collection point, your crop is not sold.
>
>"That is a setback for the farmer."
> See also:
>
>
>15 May 02 | Business
>Farming nations slam US payouts
>21 May 02 | Business
>Senegal fights to protect fishing industry
>29 Apr 02 | Business
>IMF calls for farm subsidy cuts
>30 Apr 02 | Africa
>Mali's 'trees of life' under threat
>Internet links:
>
>
>Senegal Government (in French)
>Sonacos
>
>Top Africa stories now:
>
>
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>
>Links to more Africa stories are at the foot of the page.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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