Laye,

Thanks for sharing...Now, I think it is time to fire the Agriculture
minister because he/she is an under performer... Oh now who is he/she
again???? I think it is the Dr.

What happens to all the agricultural production by the master farmer who
has farms in every village or harmlet?

What happened to the President stepping in an importing rice and flower
from other nations to sell to the public? Oh is that not sustainable
anymore??????

What happened to mechanized agriculture with all the tractors distributed?
Oh was that for election 2011????

What happened to "work hard with your heart or you are gone"?

Now common sense dictates that when you entirely rely on the natural
moonsoon rains for a bumper harvest in the face of global warming, you are
bound to experience crop failures...

I know the environmentalists may disagree, but it is time we move away from
relying on the natural rain that only comes three or four months hear....

Irrigation and other modern agricultural mechanisms ought to be
considered..

What you think Dr. Jaiteh and others??... is it time we start considering
other options of food production in Gambia?

Any education around this is greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance

Demba






On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:59 AM, Laye Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>
> http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-03-07-gambia-says-70-pct-of-food-harvest-failed-seeks-aid/
>
> Gambia says 70 pct of food harvest failed, seeks aid
> Reuters | 2012-03-07 16:30:00
>
> BANJUL - Gambia has appealed for food aid after it said that 70 percent of
> its crops failed during the last growing season, extending the reach of a
> food crisis already hitting millions of people across Africa's Sahel strip.
> Gambia's agriculture ministry said the impact of poor rains last year had
> been exacerbated by high world food prices, crippling household incomes in
> the West African state, which has ridden out previous food crises.
>
> Aid agencies have warned that some nine million people across Mauritania,
> Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad are facing another food crisis this year
> on the back of poor harvests, high prices, the fall in remittances and
> conflict.
>
> "The post-harvest assessment of the 2011 farming season, which was
> characterized by below normal and poorly distributed rainfall, indicated a
> reduction in total crop production of more than 70 percent," Gambia's
> agriculture ministry said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.
>
> The poor harvests of rice, groundnuts, millets, maize and sorghum had left
> villages with just two months of food supplies, down from the usual four to
> six, at the end of the 2011 harvest, it added.
>
> The statement said the government could not match the needs to tackle the
> current food crisis and prepare farmers for the 2012 growing season and
> appealed for $23 million in seeds, fertilisers and food aid.
>
> Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a 1994 coup, has had
> a troubled relationship with donors, largely due to his country's human
> rights record.
>
> The statement did not give a figure for the number of people needing food
> aid but officials in the agriculture ministry said just over 1 million
> people were in need.
>
> Some 60 percent of the country of 1.7 million people, living in a nation
> completely surrounded by Senegal, are farmers.
>
> Crops are usually planted in July and harvested in October.
>
>
> --
> -Laye
> ==============================
> "With fair speech thou might have thy will,
> With it thou might thy self spoil."
> --The R.M
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