Overcoming the marketing problem of women gardeners

Women gardeners in the country continue to struggle for the marketing of their produce day in day out.

They do wake up very early in the morning to go to the markets, particularly Serrekunda, Latrikunda and Brikama markets.

Most of them do not have a permanent place to sell their produce in these markets and, as a result, they sit on the pavement to sell.

They encounter countless confrontations with the municipal police on a daily basis.

Our concern is that these women, most of whom travel from far places, need a permanent place in the markets to sell their vegetables and other foodstuff.

They complain that they do not have space within the market to be selling their produce.

Something, therefore, needs to be done to address their plight.

One intervention could be the expansion of the existing markets to provide them space to sell their produce.

Their current places of selling are not convenient, thus the call for action from the municipal authorities.

Also providing these women with storage facilities would reduce the losses they incur daily, since most of their produces are not durable, and exposed to the intense sun.

They need a more convenient place, rather than sitting on the roadside in the streets next to main markets. 

Sitting under the sun for hours is not good for their health, and for their produce.

Its very true to say that Gambian women are indeed hardworking, but they are not also being given the required support they need to boost their economic activities.

They need to be supported seriously and genuinely, since it is from their gardening activities that they take care of their families, pay school fees for their children and so on.

The operating environment, therefore, should be much more conducive and encouraging for them, and not the opposite.