He added that this is designed to increase the income of rural people.
Speaking in an interview with The Point in his Banjul office, Minister Sabally explained that it is only groundnut that The Gambia government buys from Gambian farmers. He added that last year, the government bought the groundnut at a price higher in the sub-region.
“Last year, it was D28, 000 per ton and about D23, 000 per ton in our neighbouring countries. D28, 000 is a lot higher than the value per ton of groundnut at the world market. The government did that to subsidise D12 per kilo and is almost D12, 000 per ton for peanuts.”
Dwelling on the allegations that agricultural projects are mainly driven to the President’s region, the Upper River (URR), Central River (CRR) and the West Coast Regions (WCR) while neglecting the North Bank (NBR) and the Lower River Regions (LRR), the minister clarified that currently, the roots project has beneficiaries from the North Bank and LRR.
“The agricultural projects are designed by considering so many factors including vulnerability, poverty, applicability and more projects are designed for every Gambian and for every region.”
