By Nyada Yoba Baldeh
The Agricultural Sector has largely remained unreformed and/or transformed for decades. Some restructuring of the Department of Agriculture into the Department of Agricultural Services and the Department of Agricultural Research took place in the 1980s. The Department of Agricultural Research was later transformed to the National Agricultural Research Institute known by the acronym NARI. The idea of a National Agricultural Development Agency (NADA) was put together by the PMO and MDI and was enacted by Parliament in 2006 (NADA Act, 2006. However due mainly to the lack of support for NADA by the Ministry of Agriculture, the implementation failed.
The extension approaches of the Agricultural Sector over the years included the Package Deal Program of the 1970s, Training and Visit (T&V) system of the mid 1980s and now driven by internationally-funded development assistance projects.
During the First Republic, Jawara’s Government lacked adequate technical (qualified human resources), financial and material resources while with the Second Republic, President Jammeh personalized the Agricultural Sector. His personal agricultural program became the de facto Agricultural Program of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Third Republic under President Barrow, the Agriculture Sector’s main problem is the lack of appointing qualified, experienced, dignified and committed Ministers who can reform the Agricultural Sector. Today the human resource base of the Agricultural Sector is one of if not the richest in The Gambia where a more suitable candidate would have been appointed. There are atleast ten (10) Gambian Ph.D holders, fifty (50) Master’s Degree holders and hundred (100) Bachelor of Science Degree holders.
The Agricultural Sector is one of the main drivers of the Gambia’s Gross Domestic Product growth, employing over 40% of the working population and over 80% of the rural working population. The Sector contributes 31% of GDP which declined to 20% in 2016 (IHS 2016) and 72% of the population rely on agriculture for livelihood. Agro-industries constitute 15% of GDP. The above vital information is enough justification to transform the Agricultural Sector into a vibrant agribusiness with emphasis on investment into commercialization of production, processing and add value to all agricultural produce. This vibrant agribusiness will not only improve food and nutrition security but provide employment opportunities for Gambians especially for women and youth.
There is now a conducive national development environment for a successful agricultural transformation. Peace and Security, Rural Electrification, Pipe-born water supply (solar boreholes) and better Road Network and improved Communication all favour the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.
Broadly defined agriculture
The national dialogue on the agricultural sector will be based on a broadly defined agriculture that includes field and horticultural crops, livestock, range management, agricultural mechanization, aquaculture and beekeeping, soil and water management. Linkages with other relevant areas and institutions will be encouraged and such areas and institutions include forestry and biodiversity, fisheries, beekeeping, the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), the Gambia Export and Investment Promotion Agency (GEIPA) the Micro-Finance Industry, Credit Unions and Group Lending.
The field and horticultural crops which form the main food and cash crops will be those that are of high value and give quick returns to investment through production, processing and value addition. Such crops as: legumes (groundnuts, cowpeas, beans etc), cereals (rice, maize, millets, sorghum, findi etc), fruit trees (mangoes, oranges, pawpaws, pears, cashew etc), vegetables (tomatoes, greens, roots and tubers, etc), Oil seeds (sesame, sun flower, soya beans, groundnuts etc).
Under livestock, the two main categories of agricultural animals for consideration will be those for consumption and draft for work. These are Small Ruminants (sheep and goats), large ruminants (cattle), poultry and swine. Draft animals will be selected and bred on the basis of strength, tolerance to diseases, and give quick returns to investment. Equines (horses, donkeys etc) and oxen will be considered. Both range management and intensive livestock management will be practiced based on the Region.
Agricultural mechanization will be reviewed under three main areas: animal drawn equipment, agricultural produce processing equipment and power tillers and tractors with suitable equipment for lowland and upland use.
The Department of Fisheries is working on production, processing and adding value to fish. These efforts will be harmonized with the agricultural transformation agenda for aquaculture promotion in all the five regions of The Gambia. The main areas for harmonization support will be aquaculture and processing, value addition and marketing.
The agricultural transformation agenda for beekeeping Promotion for Honey Production will put much emphasis on employment opportunities for rural women and youth working with the National Beekeepers Association of The Gambia, Departments of Forestry and Parks and Wildlife. Using the community forests and national forest parks for beekeeping will have the dual effect of producing honey as well as preventing bushfires that adversely affect 80% of the country annually.
Land (soil) and water management is an area that the Soil and Water Management Unit of the Department of Agriculture has worked hard to improve by putting up soil and water conservation structures throughout the country. Much emphasis (efforts and resources) will be put into institutionalization for the maintenance of these structures by beneficiary communities. In addition, climate resilient technologies, rain water harvesting, weather forecasting will be part of the land and water management aspects of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda. The Land Resources Survey of 1976 (LRS 1976) will be reviewed as a baseline for comparison with similar but more comprehensive study of the Land and Water Resources of The Gambia to know priority areas of soil and water conservation.
The national dialogue process
The National Dialogue Process (NDP) will put much emphasis on extensive regional and national consultations using a bottom-up approach that will involve the farmers and farmer organizations and local government personnel such alkalolu, councillors, chiefs, governors and other related sectors of government and the Private Sector.
The five main regions of The Gambia Upper River Region, Central River Region, Lower River Region, North Bank Region and West Coast Region form the bottom part of the NDP where the dialogue starts from and all the regional outputs and outcomes will be harmonized at the National level to form the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda (ASTA). In each of the Regions, the NDP will review the diversity and comparative advantages, land tenure, establish ownership of the Agricultural Transformation Process and set up a Regional Monitoring and Evaluation System (RM&ES).
At the national level, all the NDP outputs and outcomes will be harmonized into the Regional Agricultural Reform Programs (RARPs), establish Regulations and Standards, create conducive environment and establish Monitoring and Evaluation System (M&E) for implementation of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda (ASTA).
The Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analyses on the broadly defined Agricultural Sector will be the main form of quick assessment, data and information gathering. A Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) will be constituted to carry out the SWOT Analyses. The MDT composition will be: Crops Expert, Livestock Expert, Soil Scientist, Agricultural Economist, Climate and Weather Expert, Agricultural Extension Specialist, GCCI, GEIPA, University of The Gambia (Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences), NARI,
Other more detailed further studies may be required by the NDP in developing the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, such studies as:
1) History of Agricultural Extension and Research, Methods and Approaches Used in The Gambia: From Colonial Agriculture to Date.
2) The Evolution of Farm Mechanization in The Gambia: From Colonial Agriculture to Date.
3) How the Adaption of Crops and Livestock Mitigated the Adverse Effects of Drought, Pests and Diseases and Climate Change in The Gambia.
4) The Major Pests and Diseases of Crops and Livestock in The Gambia: Their Adverse Effects and Innovative Methods of Management.
5) Agricultural Statistics of The Gambia: Trend Analyses and Recommendations.
6) Who is Who in Agriculture in The Gambia: From Colonial Period to Present Day.
7) Farmers’ Calendar of The Gambia
8) Study of Regional Agricultural Comparative Advantages of The Gambia.
9) 1976 Land Resources Survey Update (Land and Water Resources).
10) Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Agricultural Development
National dialogue outputs and outcomes for the agricultural sector transformation agenda
The National Dialogue Process will complement and update the plans for the Agricultural Sector that form part of National Development Plan 2023 – 2026.
The SWOT Analyses will determine the likely outputs and outcomes but these outputs and outcomes will be guided by the need to consider agribusiness, processing and value addition, private sector involvement, value chain review for the preparation of the agricultural sector transformation agenda.
The main areas of the national dialogue for a Transformed Agriculture include: Vision, Mission, Policy, Strategy, Programs and Projects. The Vision Statement should be clear, focused, realistic, and achievable to give a Transformed Agriculture Sector. The Mission Statement should equally be clear, focused, realistic, achievable emphasising agribusiness, processing and value addition. The NDP should determine the agricultural transformation policy on crops, livestock, agricultural mechanization, aquaculture, beekeeping, land/soil and water management, and a sustainable financing mechanism.
The current development assistance projects of the Ministry of Agriculture financed by Development Partners will be aligned with the Agriculture Sector Transformation Agenda using the following: crops, livestock, agricultural mechanization, aquaculture, land/soil and water management, sustainable financing mechanism.
The successful implementation of the NDP to achieve the identified outputs and outcomes will largely depend on the major strategic considerations for the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda. These strategic considerations are: Setting up of a National Advisory Council on Agriculture, establishing Agribusiness Development Centers, Agribusiness Development Bank, establishment of Gambian Farmers’ Cooperative Union, conducting an Inventory of MoA’s Movable and Immovable Assets. Once the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda is finalized and being implemented, the National Dialogue Process should be institutionalised into a National Advisory Council on Agriculture (NACA). The NACA will periodically advise the Government of The Gambia and Minister of Agriculture in particular on progress made and challenges faced in meeting National Agricultural Development Goals of the Agricultural Sector. The members of the NACA should be retirees of agriculture, farmers, private sector individuals who are familiar with agribusiness in particular and national development in general.
The change from subsistence agriculture to large scale commercial system of agriculture requires the access to valid and reliable agricultural data and Information. These agricultural data and Information should be derived from experience obtained from the development of Agricultural Sector over the years from Colonial period to now. These proposed five Agribusiness Development Centres (ADCs) one in each region, should be centres of excellence for access to agribusiness technical data and information for support to agricultural entrepreneurs/beneficiaries of such facilities. This support can be in the form of capacity building, advocacy, and the successful piloting of agribusiness best practices to convince potential investors on the basis of “seeing is believing”. Vigorous emphasis will be put on the advocacy aspects using the social media to improve knowledge, skills and attitude of farmers in agribusiness. Access to such information should: 1) increase access to agribusiness technologies, 2) increase the scaling up of agribusiness best practices, and 3) promote the development of commodity technical information packages. A rigorous transparent and accountable income and expenditure tracking management system will be put in these ADCs to ensure that they are self-sustaining and generate significant income as cost recovery for the Regional Agricultural Transformation Program. The ADCs will work closely with NARI for adaptive research in the development of agribusiness technical information and those areas identified by the NDP as part of the Agriculture Sector Transformation Agenda.
The proposed Agribusiness Development Bank (ADB) will be the major financing system for the successful implementation of the Agriculture Sector Transformation Agenda through investors accessing lines of credit for short, medium- and long-term agribusiness loans. Shareholding will be major source of funding for the proposed ADB with Government owning 40% share while the Private Sector owning 60% share. The NDP will work out the operational modalities of the ADB improving on the following:
1) Board of Directors.
Members of the BoD will be agricultural retirees, representatives of the private sector, farmer organisations, women and youth representatives.
2) Staff and offices
The staff should be appointed by the BoD. The Headquarters should be located within the Greater Banjul Area possibly Brikama West Coast Region with four regional offices located at Regional Headquarters in URR, CRR, LRR and NBD.
3) Access to loans by investors in agribusiness
The Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda cannot be successfully implemented without a significant investment in the Sector and the AFDB will provide access to loans for short medium- and long-term investment.
4) Collaboration with the Gambia Farmers’ Cooperative Union (GaFCU).
The ADB and GaFCU acting as collateral for farmers can collaborate in a number of ways to realize ASTA by a) providing loans in kind to farmers such as implements, agrochemicals, seeds etc. b) purchase and sale of agricultural produce.
5) AFDB collaboration with the micro-finance industry
The AFDB will work closely with the micro-finance industry of The Gambia to widen the access to loans for investment in agribusiness.
6) Agricultural financial transactions
As a matter of policy, all agricultural financial transactions carried out in The Gambia must be done through the AFDB to increase the volume of financial transactions of the bank.
The experience gained during the poorly managed defunct Gambia Cooperative Union is lesson for all Gambians involved in agriculture to learn from. However, there is need to set up a Gambia Farmers’ Cooperative Union (GaFCU) that will deal in all aspects of agricultiral produce, inputs, processing and marketing and owned and managed entirely by farmers. All farmers and investors in agribusiness must become members of GaFCU. GaFCU will collaborate with ADB for access to loans/credit for successful implementation of the ASTA. All the Livestock Show Grounds to be renamed Agricultural Produce Marketing Centres (APMCs) and handed over to GaFCU as part of the establishment of GaFCU. These APMCs will be used, as the name implies, for the sale of agricultural produce throughout the year. The APMC Master Plan should cater for animals, poultry, horticulture produce, industrial goods and equipment, closed exhibition warehouse, washrooms, coldrooms, animal off laoding bay etc.
There are many movable and immovable assets of the Ministry of Agriculture throughout the country. It is prudent at this juncture to carry out a comprehensive inventory of all these movable and immovable assets. This inventory will enable the MoA to select those assets that it will maintian and make good use of and dispose of others through proper procedure. The proceeds from the sale of assets pf MoA should be part of the contribution of Government to the ADB as part of its share.
There is need to relocate the MoA to the Ruben Thomas Building at Cape Point for easier access and better working environment. Sapu should be revived with better private management to become the main NARI Research Station working closely with the UTG Faculty of Agriculture and the Environmental Sciences.
The main areas of the Agricultural Transformation Programs and Projects are: Crops, Horticulture, Livestock, Land/Soil and Water Management, Aquaculture, and Beekeeping.
Harnessing the rich human capital of the agricultural sector
The current rich human capital of the agricultural sector covers nearly all areas of agriculture. there are animal and plant scientists, agricultural economists, agricultural engineers specializing in agricultural mechanization, soil and water management experts, and social scientists.
The NDP will harness this high rich human capital of the Agricultural Sector to provide the much-needed ideas for the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda. Much emphasis will be put on the critical mass of few, efficient agricultural staff highly qualified, experienced professionals who are eager to transform the Agricultural Sector. This critical mass of all the Departments of MoA determined by extensive staff audit and on the basis of need rather than other considerations will be divided between Regions and National Headquarters. All those who could not be deployed for the implementation of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda, can apply for agribusiness loans from ADB and set up their own agribusiness or work for the Private Sector and/or individuals investing in agribusiness. Those that remain to implement the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda will be provided with clear cut job descriptions, annual contracting and annual performance evaluation.
The advance made in information communication technology (ICT) will be highly utilised at regional and national levels as part of the agricultural sector transformation process.
Agricultural data and information
The NDP should be facilitated by this access to valid and reliable facts and figures on the Agricultural Sector that show trends over the years since 1924. The main data and information sources include: 1) Population and Housing Censuses, 2) the National Agricultural Sample Survey (NASS), 3) Agricultural Censuses, and 4) Others (LRS 1976, Case Studies and Dissertations etc).
The Gambia has been conducting Population and Housing Censuses since 1963 and trends in farmer and rural populations can be obtained.
The Agricultural Sector Censuses and the NSS conducted in The Gambia could provide supplementary data and information on farming population, farm sizes, crop types grown and hectares and yield trends and livestock production as well.
The 1976 LRS will be used as a baseline study that will guide future detailed studies of similar nature.
In addition to other forms of data and information collection, Case Studies and Dissertations carried out by individuals and/or institutions at Regional and National Levels will also be reviewed to add to the comprehensive data and information for the National Dialogue Process and the Agriculture Sector Transformation Agenda.
Financing of the national dialogue process and the agricultural sector transformation agenda
The NDP must be given the high-level political support base and financing it deserves for the development of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda to succeed. The Office of the President (OP) must provide and solicit for this required high level support.
The initial funding for ASTA should be both at Regional and National Levels to reduce the bureaucracy and red tape that will likely delay and/or undermine the process.
The Regions should gradually and partly generate funds through cost recovery from the ADCs and its satellite centers and sale of fruit trees and other services at Regional Headquarters. The Regional Budgets should be managed by the Regions.
The high-level political support for ASTA should result to tje implementation of the Maputo African Union Agreement that countries provide 10% of their National Budgets to the Agricultural Sector.
Funding should also come from the Development Partners such as the World Bank, FAO, IFAD, UNDP, IDB, and the Japanese Grant (K2 Rice). Funds generated at the National Level should be proportionately shared with the Regions to facilitate ASTA at the Regions.
Seven major areas have been discussed in this write up intended to change the Agricultural Sector from a mixture of subsistence and commercial agriculture to a complete commercial agriculture that puts much emphasis on agribusiness.
The results of the National Dialogue Process will lead to the development and implementation of the Agricultural Sector Transformation Agenda.
The implementation of the Agriculture Sector Transformation Agenda will help realize not only Food and Nutrition Security of The Gambia but social and economic transformation of The Gambia from a low-income country to a middle-income country that is FREE from hunger and poverty.
