It is often said that the road to hell is paved with good intensions!
I do not want to question Dr. Jammeh good will towards our women folk by
buying them 70 tractors from his our resources. That's want every successful
village kid does. Give a helping hand to your neighbors! However, I have
some serious doubts as to whether the 70 tractors will achieve anything good
due to a number of environmental and socioeconomic settings.
First our traditional land tenure does not give a lot of our women folk
access to large tracts of land to enable them engage in productive mechanize
farming. So any desire to get women folk adopt mechanized technologies must
be preceded by efforts to increase access to land.
Infact it can be said that mechanizing agriculture in the Gambia as a whole
would require serious reform in our land tenure system. One that would
result in consolidation of farm sizes as well as ownership. That, I am
afraid may be politically too costly for even Dr. Jammeh.
Also the traditional crop for most Gambian women (at least along the River)
is rice. While tractors may be important for increasing rice production,
they are not the most important. In my opinion our dependence on rain fed
cropping is the root cause of poor performance in rice production. I believe
44% decline in rice production in 2002 season shows just that.
Another consideration is the logistics of maintaining and managing these
tractors. I would want to know how many of the Taiwanese tractors
distributed a few years ago are in service. Do we have the necessary
infrastructure in place at the village level to see to it that the tractors
have adequate fuel and spare parts?
In other words, instead of buying 70 tractors why not spend the money on the
post harvesting, processing and marketing sector. I am confident that a
quick and dirty survey of our rural women folk will reveal that their
inability to process millet, preserve and sell their vegetables are some of
the major reasons why they remain on the rice fields. Those folks with
market for their garden products, quickly abandon rice for vegetables. We
have witnessed that in the Kombos. After all who needs to grow rice if you
can buy it?
For those who believe that the tractors are indispensable, then why not
encourage the private sector to take up the challenge of owning and managing
farm equipment. Since most taxis and trucks are owned and run by private
people, farm equipment (rent or sale) should not be treated differently!
Malanding
70 Tractors for Women Farmers
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The Daily Observer (Banjul)
February 7, 2003
Posted to the web February 7, 2003
Omar Bah & Aminata Kujabi
Banjul
Churchill Baldeh, National Assembly Member for Upper Fulladu, has said that
70 new tractors given to farmers by President Jammeh will relieve women of
the farming work load they bear.
Mr Baldeh told the Daily Observer in an exclusive interview yesterday that
the Government's new agriculture policy is to mechanise farming, "as we have
realised that the majority of farmers are women." He said women can only be
encouraged in their farming enterprise by providing them with implements. He
added that the President, in the past year, has been making consistent
efforts to ensure that women farmers are supported because of their weak
physical ability.
Baldeh revealed that by the beginning of the rainy season, the President
will provide another 30 new tractors to farmers.
"The President bought the tractors out of his own resources to generally
relief farmers, particularly women, of the burden that they usually face
during the cultivation period." He noted that the impact will be directed at
ensuring that production takes place, yields increase and that incomes are
enhanced as well as ensure food security.
Baldeh further said the President has insisted on the formation of
committees that will determine the charges for the use of the tractors for
farming operations. "A good number of the committee members will be women,"
he revealed.
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