As Hon. Suku Singhateh Mismanages Economy Under Jammeh’s Watch;

Time For Action on Food Security

 

By Bubacarr Sankanu, Cologne, Germany

 

BUBACARR SANKANU, COLOGNE, GERMANY

Honourable Suku Singhateh’s exploitation of Gambian farmers, reported by The Gambia Echo, does not speak well of the state of affairs. Suku’s action could spell trouble for Jammeh’s Government since a hungry man they say, is an angry man. Gambian farmers might tolerate the excesses of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Army and the various Special Forces recently created to consolidate Jammeh’s power, but in the medium and long term, these structures will crumble before an army of hungry protesting farmers. We should therefore not be surprised when some of the farmers reportedly victimized by Suku Singhateh join this uprising.

It is unfortunate that Gambian farmers have, since independence from British colonial rule, been used as common tools of electioneering. Once the elections are over, they are forgotten, deceived and played with by the shrewd politicians they trusted with their votes.

Hon. Suku Singhateh& President Jammeh

It is a pity that our nation cannot pride herself with even a single successful food self-sufficiency project. The PPP government could not even maintain the Jahali Pachar Rice Development  Project. Jammeh inherited and supported the system of cheap rice imports. Some will blame the failures of our agricultural plans on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union, which subsidizes the dumping of European leftovers on the African food market. Others will point fingers at the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the Bretton Woods Institutions that strangulated local capacity. The sad stories of The Gambia Cooperative Union and The Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB) would convince others that the Gambian attitude contributed to the crises. Doubtlessness to say Jammeh’s policies would also be counted as part of the problem.

Jammeh was dreaming about The Gambia’s petroleum resources when he suddenly woke up to take charge of the agriculture portfolio for a second time. Perhaps the global images of hungry farmers protesting high cost of food stimulated him into action. He then made impromptu visits to the national agricultural facilities in the Greater Banjul Area. The butchers who were playing their game according to the rules of the market did not escape Jammeh’s jokes. I call it “jokes” because Jammeh’s tirades are laughable. The current “Dialogue With The People Tour” can be seen as part of the newly discovered populism to counter any possible farmers’ revolt. The farmers would give Jammeh a new lease of life as they prepare for this year’s planting season. Some farmers, especially in the Upper River Region, will be expecting remittances from their relatives abroad to buy seed and would therefore, take Jammeh’s promises with a pinch of salt. However, gone are the days when farmers would just swallow empty promises from their political leaders.

Calls for self-sufficiency or stories of food shortage might make attractive sensational headlines these days but we should not allow popular emotions to overshadow serious planning. We need medium to long-term agribusiness development policy. Asian rice producers (our staple food) are also facing growing populations and increasing pressure on land use. We should not expect them to deny their hungry population rice in order to supply Gambians. If we cannot produce our own rice, we must be prepared to pay the high prices dictated by the global fundamentals and the deals sealed at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Abuja Security and Commodity Exchange. The Jammeh Government and all those who got addicted to imported rice should learn to live with this new hard reality. If you do not want to pay the high market prices for rice and meat, take farming seriously. Despite the propaganda, Jammeh and his Government do not have the power to influence commodity prices. This does not mean they should cross their fingers singing, “The world market is to blame!”

The National Planning Commission should review our economic reorientation. In the period between the exit of the PPP government and the entry of Jammeh’s A(P)RC into to our political scene, there were talks of making our Gambia “a service based economy.” In one of those meetings I witnessed, a consultant from the World Trade Organization (WTO) called for caution and diversity. He made reference to Malaysia’s economic diversification programme with a mix of services (tourism, banking), industrialization (manufacturing) and farming. He advised the policy makers to learn from that. The Singaporean Model preferred by the elated executives is based purely on services. According to that consultant, the Political Economy of The Gambia is yet to have what it takes to become a city-state like Singapore.

However, Jammeh has in the 14-year rule favoured the idea of a service based city-state economy as the development of our tourism, transit (re-export) trade and banking sectors show.

The transit trade, promoted by the PPP remains prominent under Jammeh with at times disastrous government interferences such as that chaotic pre-inspection regime. The political emphasis on services and trade made operators concentrate on the buying and selling of consumer goods and services for quick returns. This has increased demand for retail shopping space in the urban areas as developers and landlords struggle to meet demand. We are also facing tough competition from sister countries working to become entry ports for the West African market. Ghana has a very impressive port and route network serving the vibrant landlocked markets of Burkina Faso and Mali. Senegal and Togo offer similar incentives. Our Government has a lot of work to do in convincing traders to ship their goods through Gambian territory.

On our banking sector, a concerned commentator genuinely asked elsewhere: Why are so many commercial banks in The Gambia? He raised serious concerns over the mushrooming of commercial banks. Of course, we cannot deny the fact that we need a vibrant banking sector as a “catalyst” of wealth creation but we must not forget that the banks in town are offering short-term loans for short-term ventures. They are all competing to offer the same “Joni Joni” products to the same circle of depositors and borrowers, mostly formal sector employees and established business people with securities. The aggressive competition among the commercial banks prompted Finance Secretary Musa Gibril Bala Gaye’s accusation of the banks of “economic greed.” With all due respect my dear Honourable Bala Gaye, the commercial banks are no charitable organizations; they are there to make money, primarily, for their shareholders. One cannot just blame the banks. The Government wanted a service-based economy and banking is part of the services. So let the policymakers clear the mess they created instead of passing on the buck. If I should set up a bank or an insurance company in The Gambia, I will equally be a merciless capitalist shark. The tough competition in the saturated market of short-term consumer lending requires tough survival strategies to prevent another Continent Bank and GCDB fiasco repetition. The recent seizure of Beyba Express by the Central Bank of The Gambia and the modest performance of our oldest commercial bank, Standard Chartered, are a warning signal.

The Finance Secretary and his team should therefore, return to the drawing board. The Government should issue a moratorium on the licensing of conventional commercial banks in order to stabilize and sanitize the market. It should also encourage diversification into segments like rural and medium to long-term investment or development banking. I think we have learned our lessons from the disasters of the defunct GCDB, the Continent Bank and the Youth Development Enterprises (YDE). We should therefore, set the stage for the promotion of a new generation of efficient development banks that can, among others, help “hedge” our economy against the volatility of the short-term consumption activities backed by the commercial banking products. This new development banks should support the establishment of import substitution industries: we should not repeat the mistake of laying our national eggs into the basket of the services only.

The global food crises are a blessing in disguise for they have spanked policymakers and the vagabonding speculators awake. For investors with medium to long-term agenda this is the best time to promote an agricultural development bank in The Gambia. There is a market for such specialist banks in The Gambia. Farming is serious business and without capital it won’t work.

On the output side, we should ask ourselves whether our national dependence on groundnut as main cash crop is at all relevant to our current needs. The National Agricultural Institute (NARI) should publish its findings and should educate farmers on the cultivation of the possible alternative crops to groundnut. The farmers should also speak with one voice for effective collective bargaining. They should lobby for their interests just like their counterparts in the telecommunication, tourism, trade and construction industries who monopolized President Jammeh’s ears. I read about the National Farmers’ Platform on the Senegambianews.com. I encourage the members of this Platform to push for the comprehensive implementation of their homegrown plans for self-sufficiency in The Gambia in partnership with the Government and all other concerned bodies. Every dog they say has its own bone. Now it is time for the “gainakos” (cattle herders) and “senelalu” (farmers) to enjoy their share of our National Bone.

To encourage proper pricing and effective consumer education, the “Lumo” (flea market) stakeholders should be given the possibilities to publish their latest prices. We have enough media outlets that can capitalize on this niche by publishing weekly or monthly price list of all key commodities across The Gambia. Already, in countries like Ghana, market women and farmers are using mobile phones to study the development of farm gate prices of basic commodities without the middlemen, locally known in The Gambia as “jendajaayolu.” This system can work in The Gambia and if our local mobile phone companies care about social responsibility, they should offer SMS/MMS price information platform to our farmers and market women free of charge for at least five (5) years. This will not affect their shareholders. In fact, it will boost their brands and strengthen their customer loyalty. We will also have some peace at home since my poor butchers would be saved from Yahya Jammeh’s next tirades over pricing.

To encourage small to large-scale agribusiness activities, the government should suspend import duties on farming implements, tools, spare parts and food processing equipment. This will help our farmers increase their productivity. I am not saying we should now start the wholesale promotion of large scale mechanized commercial farming. We need both the traditional subsistence farming and the mechanized methods. We must not forget that we have only a National Territorial Space of approximately 11,000 S/km. We must strive, through proper planning, to mitigate bloody land disputes that are disintegrating farming communities and forcing quality manpower to the suburban shantytowns. I would have loved to study the latest edition of our National Land Use Plan for a more accurate analysis. However, I would like to call on our veterinarians, agricultural engineers and crop and soil specialists to come forward to educate our farmers on effective farming techniques that would increase yield within limited farmland. My dear experts please come forward with your productive ideas on how to create a working balance between ecology and economy in our beloved homeland. Forget about Yahya Jammeh for now for my lovely “Gainako” in Sare Samba is more important.

By and large, I would encourage The Gambia Government to be seriously business friendly. President Jammeh has so far given business responsibility to people with no entrepreneurial skills or financial discipline. Genuine business people cannot compete with these gangsters and womanizers as they misuse their closeness to President Jammeh to flout the rules. In the end, ordinary Gambians suffer. Take the examples of Baba Jobe (Youth Development Enterprise, alleged diamond and weapons smuggling), Suku Singhateh (alleged drug peddling in Germany, exploitation of Gambian groundnut farmers), Azziz Tamba’s embezzlement and abuse of privileges. We also read about members of President Jammeh's own business interests like the Kanilai Family Farms and the State House Motor Vehicle Department being arraigned for embezzlement and mismanagement. This shows that the boundary separating due diligence and political patronage is oblivious.

On the extreme end are the shrewd Lebanese who are exploiting the lucrative sectors of our economy just to transfer their quick profits back to their home countries. The Lebanese are basically committing the same crimes President Jammeh is accusing Carnegie Minerals and the prospective investors in Gambian petroleum of. Their regular charities to Gambians during Ramadan and other religious occasions are pure cosmetic lobbying for sympathy and juicy government deals.

Diasporan Gambians are also sustaining the economy with their remittances. It just unfortunate and disappointing that the Gambian Government is yet to recognize it. Neither President Jammeh nor any of his protégés is yet to acknowledge this irrefutable fact. The Finance Secretary in his Budget speeches keeps categorizing the remittances under Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) instead of giving the Diaspora Devils their dues. This is just unfortunate considering how far countries like Ghana and Mali are going in encouraging their citizens abroad. Nigeria recently allocated a special housing estate for its citizens abroad that want to own houses back home without much stress. Just recently a 200 Million U.S. Dollar Diaspora Investment Fund was launched to help re-attract the wealth of Nigerian expertrates. Whatever the grudge, the economic importance of Gambians abroad can no longer be denied whether our home Government recognizes it or not. The days of empty talks are over and now it is time to contemplate seriously, how to feed us as a hungry nation on our own accord. Workers from other sectors might keep calling off their industrial actions (strikes) to respect Mansa Kangkang Jammeh of Kanilai but an uprising of farmers will spell the beginning of the end of his rule… Food Security is National Security!

Bubacarr@gmx.net