By Fatou B. Cham
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security (MoALSF) Dr Demba Sabally has affirmed that the Government, in pursuit of its national food security goal, has not lost sight of farmers’ plight; that food security is linked to the farmers’ security. He made reference to the recent 50% subsidy of fertilizer as evidence of government’s empathy to farmers and commitment to food security.
In this exclusive interview with Gambia Daily, Hon. Sabally revealed that in 2023 the government imported about 20,000 metric tons of fertilizers while the World Bank bought 15,000 tons of fertilizer totaling about 35,000 metric tons of fertilizer.
“In 2023 the government was able to reduce fertilizer price from where it was in 2022, which was D2,000 per 50KG bag, to D1150 [50% subsidy].
He re-counted that in 2023 they had about 500-million-Dalasi subsidy on fertilizer. He went on to explain that, in 2024 government procured 28,000 mt of fertilizer, and again reduced the price from D1150 to D1100 despite the price of fertilizer being on the increase, government was able to subsidise for more than 50%.
The Honorable Minister further detailed that this year the government spent over 1 billion Dalasis to subsidise fertilizer. “It has been highly subsidised because it is one input that is recognised as critical for productivity and our goal of national food security,” he emphasised.
He revealed that the staff are always in touch with the farmers, as they teach them best practices and the latest technologies.
“The Ministry also has mixed farming centers, we have about 26 of them nationwide, these centers serve as clinics for the farmers, they have all the various staff under the Ministry of Agriculture, ranging from DoA, DLS and other technical staffs,” the Minister narrated.
He said these mixed farming centers engage in different types of crop trials, and that it is where most farmers come to learn.
“Most of these centers are where our tractors are located and farmers can go there to access tractor services but also access other input services, build connections with the staff so that they can be able to adapt Agricultural best practices,” he added.
The Minister also elaborated on the Farmer Day Celebrations which is usually held in communities stating that DoA in collaboration with other projects selects a community and a day.
“On the day communities congregate and hold meetings with the top level of agricultural staff; this is where they discuss issues, things that are working well and things that are not”.
He concluded that, staff also used the opportunity to introduce to the farmers to new technologies and also about emerging issues like climate change, pest and diseases control.
