In
The Gambia generally, rice farming has lost its hey days. In the 1980s, farmers
in the then MacCarthy Island Division, now Central River Region (CRR), were
feeding families all year round with their harvests.
Jahally
and Pacharr rice fields in the Central River Region South were once famous for
tons of output in rice yield which earned them a household name in The
Gambia. However, that glory has been
lost due mainly to a huge decline in rice production and productivity.
It
would be recalled that the Jahally and Pacharr rice field projects took off in
1983-84 with a total land area of 1,392 hectares at the time - 545 hectares for
pump irrigation, 703 hectares for tidal and 144 hectares of improved rain-fed
land.
Over
the years, lack of access to quality seeds, fertilizers, ploughing services,
inadequate water supply, floodings, lack of access to good roads and markets,
have remained key barriers to rice production and productivity in the area.
FAO,
through the European Union-funded project titled “Agriculture for Economic
Growth and Food Security/Nutrition to mitigate migration flows”, is supporting
a contractual Rice Growing Scheme in Jahally and Pacharr rice fields to help
reverse the trend.
The
project aims to contribute to sustainable growth in the agricultural sector and
reduce food insecurity and malnutrition to mitigate migration flows to Europe.
Towards increasing the participation of the
most vulnerable smallholders in value chains, the project has identified rice
for value chain strengthening through tripartite rice contract growing scheme.
Private sector engagement is key activity towards increasing most vulnerable
smallholders’ participation in value chains, especially those that can be
identified as lead firm.
Maruo Farms is a private investment in the
rice sector involved in the production, processing and marketing of home grown
rice and is working towards 10 tons per hectare productivity in Jahally and
Pacharr. It has engaged the Department of Agriculture (DoA) for support towards
the realization of its objectives in the country.
FAO is supporting the smallholder rice farmers
to increase rice productivity and increase their participation in the rice
value chain. FAO through its implementing partner, the Agribusiness Service
Unit under the DoA, facilitated the development of the tripartite rice contract
agreement between Maruo Farms (the lead
Firm), Supersonicz: The Microfinance (the financing institution, and 200
smallholder rice farmers (under the coordination of the National Coordinating
Organisation for Farmers Association (NACOFAG) to produce 700 tons of rice
(2020 dry-season production) with an agreed responsibilities and production
timeline.
All
the participating 200 farmers will receive seed, fertilizer; ploughing services
(through Supersonicz) and technical advice on good agronomic practices from DoA
and FAO agronomists, and Manu Farms will buy their produce.
Commenting
on the intervention, Mr. Lamin Camara, a 68-year- old farmer who had spent his
entire life in rice farming, noted that the decline in rice production and
productivity has had devastating impacts on lives and livelihoods in the area.
He, however, expressed optimism that the FAO supported intervention will be a
game-changer.
He
said, “The timely intervention of FAO Banjul office has renewed our hopes and
expectations this year.” Camara
continued, “With funding from the European Union, FAO is supporting us
(farmers) through the Regional Agriculture Office in Sapu, to desilt our tidal
irrigation canals to enable us have enough water in our rice fields for dry
season rice production.”
The
CRR farmers argued that they would not have been producing rice this year if it
was not for this FAO led intervention, “because the canals are blocked, we
could not plough the fields or purchase seed and fertilizer for
production”. FAO Banjul office is
providing all these services through a tripartite agreement.
“We
are very hopeful for a bumper harvest and increased income as the intervention
has catered for the marketing of our produce; and I can say that this
assistance will go a long way towards bringing Jahally and Pacharr to its glory
days,” Camara remarked.
He
added: “I can tell you that farmers in Jahally and Pacharr (not just the 200
farmers involved in the Contract Rice farming) are expecting bumper harvest for
this season and seasons to come because of the ongoing desilting of the tidal
canals-[the removal of earthy materials, such as sand, mud and weeds, from the
bed of a fast flowing river]-in the rice fields.”
The
desilting of a 3km tidal canal that connects rice fields with the fresh waters
of the River Gambia will enable us to produce rice for both household
consumption and for sale, said the farmer.
“During
my childhood days, we used to have enough water supplies because the canals
were not filled with grasses,” recollected Camara.
Mr.
Haruna Gassama, President, CRR Rice Farmers Cooperative Society, thanked FAO
for the intervention. According to him, the 200 rice growers registered with
the scheme are committed to the success of the initiative.
Tripartite
agreement
Gassama
recalled that the tripartite agreement was signed in December, 2019 with Maruo
Farms, and Supersonicz to boost rice production in the region.
Gassama
acknowledged that the farmers that assented to the agreement are presently
benefiting from ploughing services provided by Supersonicz, and that very soon
all of them would be fully engaged in production.
The
head of CRR South Rice growers grouping decried the delay in the desilting of
the canals, noting that the late transplanting of rice means they are likely to
harvest in the rains (July) which will undermine the quality of the produce.
He
appealed for both the desilting and ploughing to be accelerated to minimize the
impacts of the rains on dry season production.
Mrs.
Suntu Sanneh, a female rice grower at Jahally rice fields said the FAO support
is ‘timely’, as she recalled that for the past years, they have been requesting
for such support but all proved futile.
She
pointed to the benefits they (200 farmers) have seen as part of the agreement,
which include early ploughing, provision of fertilizer and quality seeds and
available market for them.
Mr.
Musa Darboe, Chief Executive Officer of Maruo Farms, reiterated their commitment to the
initiative. He noted that despite the challenges encountered in the
implementation of the agreement, including delays in having all the 200 farmers
open their bank accounts with Supersonicz, desilting and ploughing of the rice
fields, all parties have demonstrated a strong and common desire–improving
production and productivity and farmers income.
Agricultural
commercialization
“In
The Gambia, we need to have low cost labour intensive farming to attract more
farmers in the agricultural commercialization scheme,” he posited.
Senior
Agribusiness Officer at Agribusiness Services, Mr. Ousman Sanyang, who was also
part of the joint monitoring team that recently inspected the ongoing desilting
of the canals and releasing of the water into rice fields, expressed his
profound appreciation to FAO, Supersonicz, Maruo Farms and Rice Farmers
Cooperative Society for the giant steps taken to bring Jahally and Pacharr to
its splendor days.
Mr.
Lamin Fatty, Senior Marketing Officer, Agribusiness Services and Mr. Lamin
Jawara, Senior Agric Officer, and Focal Person for Agribusiness Services in
Central River Region South, all expressed gratitude to FAO Banjul office for the
timely intervention adding that with the desilting of the canals and easy
passage of water in the rice fields, Senior Agribusiness officials believe
farmers’ production would improve.
