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Gambia News : Gambia warns against crossborder trade
Gambian farmers have been warned to
desist from selling their cereals and grains to "traders from the
sub-region" instead of the government-controlled company. In
a statement, officials of the Agriculture Ministry said sub-regional
traders storm the Gambian market upon realising a cash shortage in the
farming community, buy agricultural products at cheaper prices and
later resell them at exorbitant prices to farmers.
Over the years, Gambian peanut farmers have been crying foul over the
government's failure to buy their produce on time. In most cases,
farmers became victims of credit buying and as such waited for several
months before they get their money. Consequently, most farmers either
sell their nuts outside the country or abandoned groundnut cultivation
all together.
Agriculture, especially groundnut export, has been the key foreign
exchange earner to the Gambian economy, but problems in the marketing
of groundnut produce have adverse effects on the economy and famrers.
For a decade, the national groundnut buyer Gambia Groundnut Corporation
(GCC) had woefully failed to satisfy Gambian farmers after months of
tilling the land. Farmers turned their back to the GCC during the
2007/8 groundnut trade season and crossed borders to Senegal to sell
their produce. The national buyer had reportedly managed to buy only
3,000 metric tons of groundnut during the last season.
The Agriculture Ministry has been overseen by the Office of the
President since the sacking of Agriculture Minister, Kanja Sanneh.
529 times read
- How can the government warn farmers not to sell their cereals in onother country if they are not capable of buying them. I am from wuli and my mum has ten bags of groundnut which none of it was bougth by the government so they not expecting my mum to keep her groundnut when we need other things to buy for the family. Pls stop harassing the farmers they have to choice to do any thing with their products when and where they wish.
(Posted on April 24, 2008, 11:13 AM kebba konteh)
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