Mr. Sanneh wrote:

"It is heart breaking to see that all the SOS have for this sector is
another way the goverment is ready to deal with this very serious matter is
to promise to continue to empower farmers. My question is HOW DO THE
GIVERNMENT EMPOWER FARMERS WITHOUT BUYING THEIR PRODUCE? We all know that
the agricultural sector is on the decline ever since the APRC came to power,
however this does not justify the fact that the little produced, could not
be battered for cash which they need so badly.Mr Jatta, What is the market
price of the the cash crop,PEANUTS? Stop playing games, your destiny lies in
the hands of the GAMBIAN FARMERS".

You then went on to qualify what you wrote above by quoting the following
from SOS Jatta's budget speech:

"Agriculture ,On agricultural development, SoS Jatta remarked that the
government would continue to empower farmers through the provision of some
micro-finance, essential inputs and farm machinery. He noted that the sector
continued to be marred by a series of constrains resulting in low production
and productivity. He said in tandem with the revitalization programme for
agriculture, substantial public and private investments are being sought to
redress the key priority area of the sector. However, he noted that
difficulties continued to be experienced in groundnut marketing during the
past year, resulting in credit buying for the first part of the trade
season."

Mr. Sanneh,

The conclusion you reached, based on a single extract from a long speech, is
not only erroneous, but misleading. If you want to comment on government's
success or failure with regards to the agriculture sector based on SOS
Jatta's budget speech, please do so by reading the whole speech dealing with
it. While it may be convenient to use an extract from SOS Jatta's speech to
try to score political point, it is counter-productive in the long run,
unless you do so honestly.

For the information of all, here are other extracts from the same speech
dealing with our agricultural sub-sector.

"In general, the major programmes in the Agricultural sector have performed
favourably leading to great improvement in the output of the sector. The
ADB, IFAD and Gambia Government funded Lowland Agricultural Development
Programme (LADEP), continues to contribute significantly to increased rice
production and household food security, which is very much in line with its
primary objectives. So far, 1,745 hectares of swampland have been reclaimed
since April 1997, representing 101% of the cumulative target for the first
four years and 52% of the targets for the whole 8-year programme. Overall,
10,100 households have benefited from the project, through access causeways
and bridges as well as construction of dykes.


The ADB and Gambia Government-funded Peri-Urban Smallholder Improvement
Project (PSIP), with total project cost of US$7 Million for five years, was
launched this year. The project is expected to boost, on a sustainable
basis, the production of horticultural and livestock products by
smallholders in the Western and North Bank Divisions. The European Union has
already approved the funding of the Pan African Programme for the Control of
Epizootic (PACE) to the tune of D7.8 million. The overall objective of PACE
is to enhance national capacities to control epizootic diseases, that affect
livestock and thereby help in alleviating poverty among those involved in
livestock farming.


Government is supporting an Integrated Maize and Poultry Project with the
aim of enhancing food security and rural incomes. Through the project, we
provide inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and agro-chemicals to producer
associations for maize production to be used as poultry feed. The producer
groups have been assisted with materials to construct poultry houses (for
both broilers and layers), and to purchase day-old chicks. The first batches
of broilers have already been marketed, thus providing additional incomes to
the mainly female farmers.


The Telefood Micro-Projects, which increased from 12 in 2000 to 16
micro-projects in 2001, focused mainly in the areas of horticultural
production, commercial poultry and rabbit raising, fisheries, agro-forestry
and bee-keeping. These interventions from the FAO also cover the
implementation of Emergency Assistance to facilitate a rapid response
against the outbreak of the African Swine Fever and other emerging diseases.


Other projects currently being implemented include support to the
continuation of the Special Programme for Food Security (SPPS), funded by
the Gambia Government and FAO with South/South cooperation from Bangladesh;
the implementation of the Agricultural Census Project 2001 with funding
contributions from UNDP, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Action Aid The
Gambia (AATG). The Agricultural Rural Farmer Training Centre at Jenoi,
supported by South/South cooperation from the Indonesian Government,
continue to train mainly women participants from the sub-region in rice
production throughout the year.

Mr Speaker,


The National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), maintained efforts to
improve its institutional and research management capacity through the
strategic planning process and agricultural research. Regional and
international research collaboration as well as extension-farmer linkages
were strengthened, whilst measures to obtain sustainable financing
mechanisms for The Gambia’s agricultural research are also being explored.
And it could be said that, the overall increases in crop hectare and
production, can be partially attributed to concerted efforts of the research
and extension service delivery systems of the Department of State for
Agriculture.


Subsequent to the liquidation of The Gambia Cooperative Union in 1998, there
have been efforts to revitalise the Groundnut industry. In the process, all
the stakeholders in the sub-sector including the European Union (EU) have
committed themselves to genuinely support the revitalisation and
re-organisation of the primary cooperative organisations (CPMSs), into
viable business entities. 94 cooperative societies are currently in
operation to facilitate groundnut production and marketing and for the
extension of credit facilities to producers. The Agri-business Service Plan
Association (ASPA), consisting of producer organisations, donors and
industrialists, participated actively in determining the nominal producer
price of groundnuts with Government providing the enabling environment.
Difficulties continue to be experienced in groundnut marketing during the
past year resulting in credit buying for the first part of the trade season.
However, succinct strategic plans are set afoot to redress the problem".

SOS Jatta also said earliar:

"All the sub-sectors under agriculture, once again recorded increases, with
other crops (comprising of cereals, vegetables and fruits) forecasted to
grow by 11.6% and groundnut by 5%, amounting to a 9.4% rise for all the
crops. Output from Livestock, Forestry and Fishing are also estimated to
grow by 3, 4 and 18 percentage points respectively. Agriculture is therefore
forecasted to grow by 8.6%".

"The Denton Bridge and Kaur Facilities have been handed over to the GDA in
preparation for their divestiture before the 2002/2003 groundnut-trade
season. A consultancy carried on the Facilities demonstrated the strategic
importance of the river transport fleet in the success of groundnut
marketing. In fact it was stressed that without barges there will be no
groundnut season. Given the poor state of the barges of the river transport
fleet and their vitality in assuring the success of the coming trade season,
the GDA has entered into agreement with a Senegalese firm for the full
repair of 22 barges for the period November 2001 to March 2002".

The honest thing to do is to commend the government for not only
acknoledging some of the difficulties that we have, but for endevouring to
do something about them. We have a daunting task that we are trying to
overcome in our own little way. The last thing we need is to be
mis-represented.

Have a good day, Gassa.

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