Hope he will find retired and knowledgeable agriculture experts- extension workers, agronomists, crop protection officers, Agric machinery and equipment officers, experienced women farmers, scientific officers and incorporate them into a full fledged Jah Oil Food Production Company. The said company can engage in crop diversification and essential commodity production with the full backing of the government in terms of tax concessions and investment incentives. This will excite commercial agriculture activity and enhance the Agric value chain. Agriculture is successful in China bcs the government empowers private sector players in food production. The Chinese factories produce all types of appropriate technology to make Agric activity less Labour intensive and to boost production using both rain- fed and irrigation mechanisms. Jah Oil Food Production Company can build business partnerships with such Chinese manufacturers of basic agriculture machinery, tools and equipment to support their efforts in food production. The same approach to agriculture farming can be initiated by Maro farms, Swami Farms and other players in the field in the country. The only way to end poverty and to ensure food security and value chain drive, is to move agriculture in a rapid and substantial manner. We grow what we eat and eat what we grow and export the rest to attract the much needed foreign exchange for the country. Agriculture is either the answer or key to sustainable development. An observer on developing countries said, “ if development is to be realized without long waits for its spread effects or trickle down effects then development must act directly in the agriculture sector itself.” Kwame Nkrumah said, “Anytime we import goods that we could produce if all the conditions were available, we are delaying our economic growth and furthering our economic dependence.” One can therefore, conclude that attacking the productive sectors of our economy such as agriculture is the logical answer to sustainable development. Agriculture was the springboard to industrialization in developed economies. In the Gambia, the question of having Agric projects every five years is not bankable in agricultural development. It puts the country in subsistence level of agriculture only. It will hardly impact on food security and sustainable livelihoods. In terms of development economics, the long term solution to food self-sufficiency is full and bigger state intervention in the agriculture sector. There is a need for serious policy shift from subsistence production to commercial production in the process of agricultural development. Ministry of Agriculture started on the right direction in this regard in recent times. If only the drive will encompass the ideas advanced herein, the country will soon say goodbye to food insecurity.
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