For over 2-1/2 decades, Saffiatou Jammeh has worked the soil in a community garden near her village to grow onions and other vegetables to feed and earn money for her family.
“I have been working here 22 years. When we were coming here in those early days, we even had to cut the trees because it was bushy,” Jammeh said through an interpreter. “In the past, one of our challenges was fencing around this garden to keep animals out. We had to go into the thick bush and cut some wood to make a fence.”
As the years went on, yields from the garden diminished because of insufficient water. Wells dried up, and the equipment used to draw water was worn out. Approximately 400 women who tended plots in the garden saw their livelihoods jeopardized by the conditions.
“In the past, my gardening was very bad,” Jammeh said. “My husband asked me to stop because the production was limited because of the scarcity of water. My husband asked me to stop working because the benefit wasn’t coming.”
Now, thanks to a project led by South Carolina State University’s Public Service and Agriculture division (SC State PSA), the community garden has an abundant supply of water.
Funded through the US Department of Agriculture via the 1890 Universities Foundation Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense, the new solar-powered well and pump system delivers water to 49 new and renovated concrete reservoirs throughout the fields. The system’s tanks have a 30,000-liter capacity. S.C. State also provided buckets and watering cans for water distribution.
“When we had limited water, I used to have about six bags of onions from my garden, but now with this water supply system here, I can have double or even more because of the availability of water anytime we need it,” Jammeh said. “So, I will have more and more yield with more onions to sell.
“These days, I come twice a day,” she said. “I can come in the morning because there is abundant water, and I even come back in the evening and then I can go back and sleep. It has been transformative and has eased my life and constraints these days.”
The water system resulted from the GFSD’s 2021 needs assessment of agriculture sector and food supply chain systems in several African countries.
With S.C. State PSA’s Lamin Drammeh, a Gambian native, coordinating the efforts, the university entered a partnership with Gambia’s National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and the Ministry of Agriculture to design and implement the project.
Global impact and benefits
The garden project represents the first of a series of initiatives between S.C. State and the West African nation, which also include an academic and research exchange with the University of the Gambia.
S.C. State President Alexander Conyers described the international relationship as fulfilling the university’s global outreach objectives and its educational commitment to SC State students.
“When we help others, we help ourselves,” Conyers said. “When we teach others, we teach ourselves. These relationships and experiences are key for our students as they compete on a global scale. It’s essential for SC State to be involved globally.”
Dr Louis Whitesides, S.C. State’s vice president for PSA and research, described the impact of the university applying its knowledge around the world. He noted that S.C. State’s next Gambian venture will be the introduction of a new goat species in hopes of mitigating nutritional deficiencies causing stunting in children.
“As a global citizen, SC State University has a responsibility to invest in communities around the world who would benefit from our expertise, particularly in agriculture education, research and outreach,” he said.
The solar-powered water system at the community garden near the Gambian village of Illiassa.
“SC State Public Service and Agriculture leads this work on behalf of the university by leveraging its resources, technical expertise and research-based knowledge to transform communities, not just in South Carolina but globally.
“For Gambia, much like the U.S., agriculture is the leading economic industry,” Whitesides said. “The work we are doing in the country will advance agriculture innovation and practices that will produce far-reaching outcomes that will impact Gambians for countless generations.”
Jubilant celebration
On Aug. 6, Conyers, Whitesides and Drammeh joined Gambian officials and S.C. State PSA scientists in handing over the water system to the garden’s farmers. The event was a joyous occasion filled with song, dance and a traditional Gambian feast.
“Ladies, South Carolina State University heard your request, and this is for you,” Conyers said as he addressed the farmers with an interpreter. “You deserve this and more.
The SC State president drew parallels between the agricultural economies of South Carolina and the West African nation, including the production of sweet potatoes and peanuts.
“What we are doing for you today is what we do for the citizens of South Carolina, and that is to innovate, educate and elevate,” he said.
“When we empower women in the Gambia, we empower the entire Gambia, just like when we empower women in the United States, we empower the entire country. When we empower women, women help us empower children, and those children help us empower the entire community.
“We continue to pray for your blessings, and I ask that you pray for South Carolina State University so that we can continue to do this type of work throughout the world,” Conyers said. “Many blessings to you, your family and this great country.”
Thankful nation
Conyers was joined on the program by Gambian and village dignitaries, including North Bank Region Gov. Ebrima KS Dampha and Minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally, who both expressed gratitude for S.C. State’s intervention at the garden and their hopes for the relationship’s sustainability.
“We are very grateful for this. Your works here will transform lives,” Sabally said, “It will transform livelihoods and make these women increase their income, increase their access to health and increase their access to education.
“NARI being under the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to work with these women to move this garden to a better height,” he said.
Dr Demba B Jallow, NARI’s director general, described the water project’s domino effect for the people of Illiassa.
“Horticultural needs a lot of work, but if they do not have access to water, the garden is there, but nothing will grow in it,” Jallow said “About 400 women are working this garden, so this will help them a lot. They grow all kinds of vegetables, but the major ones are tomatoes, onions, okra and garden eggs (a small type of eggplant).
Dr Louis Whitesides, SC State vice president for Public Service and Agriculture and research, dances with Gambian farmers.
“For this community, it will create a source of income for them, especially for young people,” he said. “Young people have some beds here where they can produce and sell for themselves. This area is known for having some migrating youths, especially to Europe and the U.S. If they have something like this, it will keep them home with their families.”
In that same vein, Jallow lauded Drammeh for his leadership in connecting his native country to his adopted home in the U.S.
“This is what is expected of every Gambian,” Jallow said. “If you go abroad, you bring back something that will uplift the living conditions of your people. This is really commendable on his side. Dr. Drammeh can stay in America and have everything, but he came back home and contributed to the development of his country.”
Further needs and next steps
While access to water was the farmers’ most pressing necessity, Jallow said, they still have unmet needs to tend to their fields and protect their crops. He said NARI’s top priority is a storage facility to prevent crops from wilting before the farmers can get them to market.
“Most of the vegetables are highly perishable — tomatoes for example. They need a place they can store the vegetable and get what they can to market,” he said. “If they do not have a place to store these things, it means their hard work can be in vain.”
Next on the list would be machines to help them plow rather than relying on “muscle power.”
“They use donkeys and horses and their own muscles, which is not very efficient,” Jallow said. “What they need is small power tillers to help them till the soil and prepare their beds.”
Jallow expressed his gratitude for S.C. State’s transformational partnership with NARI and the promise of the ongoing relationship.
“To the people of South Carolina, the government of the U.S. and South Carolina State University, I want to say thank you very much,” he said. “This is a rare thing for us to have something of this magnitude.”
