Press release
Agriculture remains the lifeblood of the Gambian economy, contributing approximately 20% of GDP, nearly 40% of net exports, and supporting the livelihoods of around 60% of all households. Yet year after year, this government has failed to break the cycle of dependency on erratic rainfall that leaves our farmers – and our entire food supply – hostage to the skies. GFA believes that this must change, and change now.
The current state of Gambian agriculture is one of enormous, squandered potential. Traditional crop production, including our staple rice and our historic cash crop groundnut, remains entirely rainfall-dependent, with no sustained productivity growth. Droughts routinely wipe out the gains of bumper harvests. Fertilizers arrive late, if at all. Agricultural financing is unavailable. Farmers who sell groundnuts to the government frequently wait until the eve of the next rainy season to receive payment. Meanwhile, our horticultural sector, particularly the women who toil in communal gardens across the country, receives virtually no government support for seeds, irrigation, storage, or marketing infrastructure.
GFA is committed to a fundamentally different approach. As rains fall across our arable 440,000 hectares, we are reminded that land is available and farmers are willing – it is leadership that has been lacking. Our party’s agricultural platform is built on transformation, not tinkering. We will invest boldly in irrigation canals along both banks of the River Gambia, transforming agriculture from a season gamble into a year-round engine of food security, employment and economic growth. We will pursue rice self-sufficiency as a concrete, time-bound goal – not an aspiration. The Gambia currently produces only 10% of the rice it consumes. That is a national embarrassment, and GFA will correct it within one term of government.
GFA will also urgently expand support to horticultural producers, create agricultural financing schemes for youth and smallholders, promote local production of animal feed to reduce dependence on costly imports, and reform the National Food Security Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC) so that farmers are paid fairly and on time- delayed payments undermine livelihoods. We will recruit, train, and properly pay a new generation of agricultural extension workers who will serve all regions of our nation.
To every Gambian farmer stepping into their fields as the rains arrive: GFA appreciates your hard work, and is committed to building the infrastructure and institutions that your efforts deserve. The rains are a gift. Under a GFA government, we will ensure that gift is never wasted.
