The Agriculture Minister revealed this at his Banjul office while stating that as a result, last year, the government bought the farmers' groundnut at a good price higher in the sub-region in order to increase the income of the rural people.
“There is poverty but not only in the rural area because there is also poverty in the urban settlements but it’s not unique to Gambia alone, instead it’s an international phenomenon.”
He continued that the UN record states that about 278 million people go to bed hungry in Africa, adding that the world average of people that are hungry is 21% and The Gambia's recent statistics is at 13%.
Dwelling on the achievements and challenges he has faced since he assumed office, Minister Sabally reiterated that the Ministry of Agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy and that every ministry has its challenges. He added that since he assumed office, the ministry’s focus has been rice production, increasing productivity and managing post-harvest waste.
“These are our priorities and others. The first thing we did after assuming office was the procurement of high-quality seeds. This year, we distributed about 200 metric tons of high-yielding rice variety and 50 tons of high-yielding corn seeds before the beginning of the season.”
He said that those efforts have improved and increased the yield for this year, citing that as one of the first steps taken since they assumed office. Minister Sabally revealed that they also recognised that not every farmer can get a tractor; therefore, they decided to distribute over 400 animal-draught equipment to farmers.
