Ousman,
You are right. The SOS for Agriculture, Fasainey Dumbuya has just been
sacked. This has been expected , of course, given the bungling of this
year´s groundnut trade. Though the the annual groundnut trading season
officially started Dec. 15, this year´s trade season is still to start in
earnest. Hundreds of thousands of groundnut farmers wait in despair for
government to arrange marketing outlets that will transform a bumper harvest
of an expected 70 000 tons of hardly produced groundnuts into much needed
cash to keep life arolling.
Last year, Gambian farmers were without any secured marketing outlets for
their marketing produce. The first time such has ever happened since the
British introduced the groundnut industry over hundred years ago. This
followed high-handed arms-twisting by government of the GGC, Gambia
Groundnut Cooperation, owned by the multinational Alimenta in the Autumn of
1998. Government accused Alimenta of many horrendouds crimes such as
money-laundering and conspiracy to kill The Gambia's groundnut-sector.
Alimenta dismissed the charges, claiming that the Government of The Gambia
(GOTG) owes a sum of D40 million from the previous season that had still not
been settled inspite of many promises. Government accuseed Alimenta's GGC of
refusing to buy and process the nuts at their oil-expellant plant at the
Denton Bridge while Alimenta says it could not start processing the seeds in
1997 because there was only 15 000 tons of groundnut available that season
and that the machinery needed atleast 40 000 tons to be operated
economically. After tedious negotiations that involved explicit threats and
arms-wtisting, goverment sent in a group of men headed by the then National
Chairman of the July 22nd Movement to arrest and deport the GGC's General
Manager. Governemnet announced the taking over of the company´s plant and
left armed soldiers all over the place. To help the ease the siuation, money
was brought in from Libya(some say in plastic bags) and Libyans, operating
under a certain company, suddenly appeared to buy the nuts. But the Libyan
money was said to be only D10 million and could help buy only a small
fraction of the crop. In April of 1998, GOTG had liquidated the failed GCU(
Gambia Cooperative Union) in an amatreurish haste without first thinking of
a substitute to replace the oreganisation's functions of serving as a
marketing outlet of the nuts and the distribution farming inputs to the
farming community. Last year´s season therefore became a shocking disaster
for Gambians. Luckily however, neihbouring Senegal that enjoyed STABEX, an
EU-concession under the Lome Convention that Gambia had been denied since
the coup of 1994, bought most of the nuts through the parastatal SONACOS or
cross-border smuggling by so-called Njogans on mule-backs. This year
however, things are different. Senegal itself has a bumper harvest and
SONACOS is said to be itself in financial distress. Prices that Senegal is
offering is not more competive than the GOTG-announced price of D2700/ton.
Next year is election year in Senegal and Governemnt must see to it that
nuts produced by Senegalese farmers must be bought firtst. Furthermore, the
CFA-franc, used in Senegal, has depreciated against the GMD substancially
over the last month. So Senegal the only other natural outlet is no longer
an attractive market.
Ironically, everbody in The Gambia is surprised that things could be worse
this time than last year´s trade season. The farming commmunity is in pain.
A pain that they cannot understand. Their suffering is like one of the
unknown soldier. The monopolisers of the means of information, the media,
both public and private, who have a totally different hierachy of
priorities, think the failure of the groundnut trade is no-news, so the pain
of farming-folks ois one tthat is untold, unfathomable and beyond the reach
of the urban community and organisations.
With their typical tolerance, Gambians generally forgave GOTG for last
year's failure but cannot now understand that this season's trade will be a
repetition of last year's, only on a much grander scale. For over four
months now, so-called stake-holders have been meeting regularly in
preparation for the 1999/2000 trade season under the umbrella of the
EU-sponsored ASPA (don´t remember what the acronym stands for but has
somthing to do with Agric Services ?????). The main players in this group
are private companies like Carl's Agency, NDL, Farato Farms, etc ,
representatives of Government and a Swis-based company called UTP-Gambia.)
Populated by persons from the the liquidated GCU or ex-servants, ASPA is
considered a bastion of disgruntled elements but backed by the local EU
representation they can hardly be cowed. In line with the prevalent
pro-market line of thinking and under heavy pressures from EU and other
international forces government was forced to abdicate its responsibility in
this vital sector. This may prove to be its biggest mistake ever. At an ASPA
meeting held a week before the offcial Dec. 15th start of the trade season,
FACs(Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Society) a new APRC-based and
top-down cooperative APEX that GOTG created recently to replace the GCU, was
told in no unclear terms by the EU representative that the EU demanded that
this organisation, inheritors of all the seccos and trading implements in
the country, must not enter into the groundnut trade if The Gambia was to
enjoy any STABEX support. FACS and their proteges in the GOTG had nothing
but to withdraw.
To be able to buy only 50 000 of the expected 70 000 tons, atleast 186
million is needed. Over 120 seccos need to be operated across the country.
Now not more than ten seccos are being operated, only about 316 tons have so
far been bought cash, the rest about 1500 tons were bought with promisory
notes 2 weeks into the season. This compares with the over D50 million paid
for cash in the first two weeks of any previous normal seasons. To top it
all, the company that GOTG has been negoitiating with since August that gave
the impression that it was interested in the trade and was liquid enough to
carry it through, has only $2.8 million available for the business. People
wonder why GOTG could not use the services of Gambian legations abroad and
even the NIA to get information on this company if it took the interest of
Gambian farmers seriously. Many here see the dismissal of The Agric SOS as
just a matter of creating and sacrificing a scapegoat. Meanwhile,farmers are
waiting for governemnt to do some thing. As they weight the, weight of the
nuts reduce at their expence and the aflatoxin contents multiply. They
wonder into the millenium: Where from here. Why have they fared so badly in
the hands of this government that had promised them so much? Who will buy
the nuts and will promisory notes be honoured????????
Happy Millenium
Pappa Njie
Pa
It is difficult to portray in writing, the suffocation that this spells for
the Gambian farming community. People are therefore apprehensive.
For the average m the Milllenim and its
>From: Ousman Bojang <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Ousman: Re: A reminder for President Jammeh
>Date: Fri, 31 Dec 1999 14:30:22 EST
>
>Saul,
>It has just come to my knowledge that he his first victim is the SOS for
>Agriculture, Mr. Dumbuya. As I write he is giving a live speech on the
>Radio
>and hopefully we will get to hear more.
>
>Ousman.
>
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