By Tabora Bojang
Farmers, agents or businesses that exports more than 10 bags of groundnuts (half-a-tonne) from The Gambia without licences will face penalties including fines of up to D5 million or imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than five years.
The Agriculture Minister Demba Sabally said this law is necessary to protect the substantial investments the government is making in the agriculture sector and to also protect local farmers. This is contained in the National Food Security Corporation Bill 2025 which aims to dissolve the National Food Security, Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC) and replace it with National Food Security Corporation that will be tasked to regulate and facilitate market access for producers of agricultural and non-agricultural products across the country, support the production and productivity of agricultural produce by facilitating the purchase of produces at competitive prices among others.
During the consideration stage of the bill in the National Assembly yesterday, Minister Sabally stressed the need to have strict penalties for groundnut and cashew imports and exports without licence. He said the current regulation only provides a one-month jail term and fine of D1,000 for defaulters. That, according to him, is “too trivial”.
He recommended to lawmakers to insert a clause that will state: “Any person who imports or exports groundnut or cashew without licence issued under this Act commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than D50,000 and not more than D5 million or imprisonment for a term of not less than two months or not more than five years or both.”
Minister Sabally also provided another proposal that states: “Any holder of a licence issued under this Act who in any way transfers that licence to another person commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine not less than D1 million or imprisonment of a term of not less than two years and not more than five years or both.”
The minister argued that there are limitations in the current regulation where “we cannot imprison anyone for more than a month nor can we fine somebody beyond 5,000”, saying, “unless the law changes, the regulation will not handle this problem.”
However several members including presiding Deputy Speaker Seedy Njie, Majority Leader Billay Tunkara and Member for Wuli East Suwaibou Touray opposed the minister’s first proposal arguing the penalty is too stiff, could make common farmers criminals for only attempting to transport few bags of groundnuts and runs contrary to the Ecowas protocol on the free movement of goods and services. Deputy Speaker Njie said: “This is not a good law. It is going to punish every farmer and common man in the country.”
Member for Kiang West Lamin Ceesay argued: “ The fine is too high with the imprisonment term. We cannot make legislation to prevent farmers from selling their groundnuts. That will be too dangerous.”
Suwaibou Touray, commented: “We subsidise rice, but we don’t put price control on it. You cannot dictate farmers to sell [their produces only] in Gambia. This is a liberal market.”
In response to these concerns, Minister Sabally said a law with stronger penalties against unlicenced importation is necessary because of budget pressures. He noted that the government has so far spent D1.7 billion on buying groundnuts and only 45,000 metric tonnes have been purchased out of the 80,000 metric tonnes estimated to have been cultivated this year.
“We are spending billions subsidising farmers who are not Gambians because we are allowing all those groundnuts from outside our border to be brough in to the country because our price is better. So to protect that, we must stop them from bringing groundnuts without licences. If this law is passed, they will not be allowed to bring their groundnut to Gambia or export it without procedures,” Sabally said.
The minister further contended that the law is necessary for the government to sustain its US$35 million factory which needs a minimum of 50,000 metric tonnes to be viable.
Other lawmakers agreed with the minister’s proposal to institute stiffer penalties in the act to suppress unregulated importation and exportation.
Nominated Member Kebba Lang Fofana said the penalty proposed by the minister will not affect average farmers but those engaged in voluminous transactions. “Importation and exportation does not apply to individual farmers exporting one or two bags.”
Member for Lower Fulladu, Gibbi Mballow, said if Senegalese authorities can prevent smuggling of certain commodities despite the Ecowas protocol, The Gambia should adopt a similar stance to protect its sovereignty. He warned the majority caucus against opposing the minister’s proposal, saying it would set a bad precedent.
Following a contentious debate, Mballow made a proposal for the clause to indicate that any person who exports or imports at least half-a-tonne of groundnut without licences commits an offence. The proposal was put to a vote with 23 lawmakers voting in support while four voted against.
