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Gambia: Groundnut Rejected At World Market

The presence of aflo-toxin in The Gambian groundnut has resulted to its rejection at the world market, said Mr. Lamin Dampha, of the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment.

Mr. Dampha made this revelation on Thursday, May 24, at the Baobab Holiday Resort while presenting a paper at a workshop organised by the National Youth Association for Food Security (NAYAFS) on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) of the European Union and the Africa, Caribbean, Pacific (EU/ACP) countries. Aflo-toxin is a harmful substance that affects the liver and causes liver cancer known as Hepatitis B.

Dampha said that the processing of groundnuts from the field to the store needs to be looked at. He added that the period of keeping nuts at the depots has trippled, and the level of aflo-toxin has not been controlled.

Dampha emphasized that a lot of effort to control it is needed, adding that a close collaboration with the Department of State for Agriculture is looking at the issue. Answering a question from a participant at the gathering on the impact of the rejected groundnut on the Gambian economy, Dampha said that, that needs to be studied, noting that the problem surrounding the groundnut trade is having a serious impact on the economies of the rural dwellers.

An agriculturalist present at the forum said the mixing of late and early varieties of nuts by cultivators results in the harvesting of unripe nuts which are moist, and later on become mouldy thus attracting aflo-toxin.