Again those around Mr. Jammeh must not confuse what's good for Jammeh to
be good for The Gambia. Vision 2016 is no doubt a very lofty goal which
when achieved may be a good thing but what will a future Gambia
dominated by a few commercial farmers look like? How do we reconcile the
current communal land tenure system with that of commercial farms? Given
over 90% Gambian farms are still categorized as small scale subsistence
family-farms, where will the farmers go when commercial farmers take
over?  Who will be the new landlord and the new farm workers? Already we
have seen what happens to small farmers when they lose their farms to
socalled developers, case in point is Kombo, where relatively well-off
Kombokolu are reduced to tenants in less than a generation. We can not
afford to do that to the rest of the Gambia no matter what is being
promised. The fact is land appropriated for commercial farmers will not
revert back to its rightful owners when that commercial venture fail or
fade.

Even if land tenure issues are addressed it will be had to see how
Gambia can be self-sufficient in rice. Given that the Gambia's climate
(annual rainfall less than 1000mm) and landscape (flat a meandering
river surrounded by flat flood plains)  will require some mechanized
water delivery system, how will that compete with rice producing
countries like Thailand where annual rainfall is above 1500mm? Unlike
Thailand The Gambia does no have any fertilizer factory or capacity to
build one. Yet we expect we can produce three crops of rice in poor
sandy soils, using motorized water delivery systems?  We have seen what
happened to poultry production in the Gambia where farmers had to rely
on buying every input from chicks to feed from outside at prohibitive
costs just to compete tonnes of chicken legs from Europe.

Again, I hope those around Mr. Jammeh realize what is at stake here. We
do not want a Gambia like Zimbabwe or South Africa where land is
appropriated from communities only to be given to "commercial farmers".
It does not matter who those commercial farmers happen to be, white or
black. It does not work where the other livelihood systems aren't well
established.   It must be noted that a lot of people stay in rural areas
because they consider the land they live off as theirs. As soon as it is
clear there is no land to hold on to, most people will end up in urban
slums. Some will argue that the Gambia does not have a significant slum
population because of the traditional tenure systems.

Malanding Jaiteh


Courtesy:
http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/rural-gambians-optimistic-of-v-2016-attainment


Rural Gambians optimistic of V-2016 attainment
Africa » Gambia
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Wednesday, November 05, 2014
Gambians in the provinces have been reacting positively to the Vision
2016 Agenda of the president of the Republic, expressing optimism that
this anti-hunger drive that seeks to make Gambia rice self-sufficient in
2016 and end decades-long dependency on foreign imports “is attainable”.

The people were speaking over the weekend in the Central River Region
(CRR) where The Gambian leader, accompanied by a high powered
delegation, visited vast rice fields, cultivated under the Vision 2016
initiative.

Launched in 2013 during the ‘Dialogue with the people tour’ by President
Jammeh, a farmer himself, the initiative has been seen by Gambians,
especially those in rural areas as one that will ensure that people eat
what is grown locally.

Some local farmers, who spoke to the Daily Observer, renewed their
pledge and commitment to supporting the initiative; the implementation
of which has already begun with an overwhelming start.

They are very appreciative of their leader’s agricultural initiative,
which has resulted to success stories. The rural dwellers heaped praises
on the Gambian leader for providing the necessary conditions that “have
improved” their livelihoods.

Meanwhile, the Gambian leader and his delegation including the minister
of Agriculture, Solomon Owens, visited fields in Pacharr, Wally Kunda,
Janjangbureh, Kerewan Demba and Kudang; farms which are cultivated with
four different varieties of rice on a large scale. The idea here is to
make them all-year-round productive, in line with the goal of ending
importation of rice by the targeted year.

President Jammeh was taken on a tour of the over 2000-hectare land
suitable for large-scale rice production in all the fields visited.

The expected results
The vision, among other things, aims to further move The Gambia from a
subsistence farming nation, to a more commercialised agricultural
nation; to improve the livelihood and nutrition of the poor; achieve
national food security and generate exportation. It seeks to set up
parallel structures towards achieving similar targets.
Author: Musa Ndow

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