Women
gardeners across The Gambia have lamented the government’s decision to lift the
ban on the importation of onion.
Speaking
to The Point newspaper at their various stalls at the ongoing trade fair at the
Independence Stadium in Bakau, the women said the government’s removal of the
import ban on onion was bad news for them.
The
women gardeners are at the trade fair exhibiting their products courtesy of the
NEMA project.
Amie
Secka from Niamina East in the Central River Region south has groundnut paste,
onions, pepper, wonjo, baobab and coos powder at her stall.
She
said she has a big garden where she produces tonnes of onions. She said for gardeners like her, allowing
importation of onions into the country would mean spoiling the market for them.
She
said: “When people start to import onion here, our own onion will not be sold,
our onion will be spoiled as there will be no market for it. We don’t have the power to build our own
storage facilities to store our onion while selling it bit by bit.”
Amie
said the government should place an embargo on onion importation when
locally-produced onions are in the market and remove the embargo when the
onions are finished.
“With
support from the government, what we produce from our various gardens across
the country can supply the entire country,” the woman gardener said.
Fatou
Darboe from Brikama said she is a market vendor and gets her onions from the
local women gardeners to sell at the market.
She
said she was saddened by the news of the government’s removal of the import ban
on onion because “it is from the onion sales that a lot of women get their
living and with the removal, the market for the local onion is going to be
destroyed”.
She
also suggested that the government should make it a policy for at least three
months when the locally-produced onions are in the market, there should be no
import of onion.
“That
will be somehow helpful,” she said with a sigh of frustration.
Mariama
Fofana from Badibu Salikenni in North Bank Region said for the government to
tell people to go outside and bring what is already produced in the country is
“very unfortunate”.
She
said: “I am appealing to the government
to get us markets to sell our onions first before asking others to import onion
into the country.”
Ramatoulie
Manneh of Jarra Madina said at their garden back home, they produce tonnes of
onions.
She
said their onions are ready for the market and but whenever they go to the
lumos (local weekly market) with their onions, they now come back home with it.
“We
don’t have anywhere to store it so some of the onions already started to
spoil,” she lamented, adding that what the government should do is to help find
market for the locally-produced onions not importing onions in the country.
Ramatoulie
said with the huge garden they have, they can supply the country with onion
when supported by the government.
Fatou
Ceesay from Batinjon said she is not sure whether the locally-produced onions
could satisfy the entire country but what they want is for their onions to be
sold first.
Awa
Jallow from Kembujeh Madina, Nyima Kanteh Jara of Pakalinding, and Fatoumata
Fadera from Badibou Sanjal Sara Kunda all re-echoed similar sentiments.
They
all appealed to the government to look into their concern vis-a-viz onion
importation.