Food For Thought for UK Letter Writer/Gambian Farmer on Agricultural Subsidies
By Jallobeh Hamadi Maatong
Our “Gambian Farmer” with twenty-plus years of hands on experience has not answered my key question. Where is the money for wholesale crop subsidies in The Gambia coming from? Our “farmer” may be that proverbial farmer from Niamina Jareng that has made so much headway in rice production that he can afford annual trips to the UK to wine and dine at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel.
Here we go again with terminology that does not reflect progressive thinking or foresight but the desire to rebut an article merely on the premise of self-reference, ideology and SUBTLE PRAISE SINGING. Would this be another of Sidia Jatta’s disciples coming out of the woodwork waving his banner? “Market-fundamentalism”? What is that? Who are you kidding? Cold war era terminologies, from both the West and East, are dead and gone and should be laid to rest. I will not come out swinging like you did but reason with you. What I am, if I may add, is more of a pragmatist that believes in oneself than the unreflective capitalist that you labeled me. The buzzwords in this era, for Africa, are growth and self-reliance.
Let me start by informing you that I am neither a Gambian professional looking for greener pastures overseas, as you alleged in your letter nor am I sitting here and rusting away. Folks like me do travel to The Gambia and other African countries on a regular basis and are making immense contributions toward development efforts on the continent. I wish to add that I know The Gambia like the back of my hand and must add more than the average Gambian. Therefore, my piece is based on a sound and current knowledge of events in The Gambia from the post-independence era to date.
I have gone further to gain hands on experience in both subsistence, Gambian farming at which level you operate and commercial agriculture as obtains in other parts of Africa, the West and Asia.
I am not certain that you were born in the pre-independence or post-independence era but you would certainly agree with me, as your mentor Sidia Jatta would, that navigating the various tiers of government in order to gain access to funds for a subsidy is no mean feat in The Gambia. Every lead bureaucrat at each tier must be “greased” in order to get the wheels of motion going or before money hits the ground for the benefit of the very Gambians that they are expected to serve. I take solace in the possibility that your stint in Portsmouth (UK) will help to heighten your awareness on the mechanics of good governance, private entrepreneurship in agriculture and how folks who believe in themselves can start enterprises on their own sweat and elbow grease and grow these into models to emulate. You’ll also, with some effort on your part, be exposed to alternative models for agricultural development in the UK.
Yes, the EU, Japan and the US governments under the Act that you cited may provide funding for farm subsidies to the tune of millions of dollars but they (The USA and Japan) can afford the subsidies whereas we CANNOT. I am writing from experience on the ground in The Gambia, Senegal, East and Southern Africa, Europe and North America. So, reflection as you stated is not the only consideration here but perspective and experience with alternative models in agriculture as we discuss approaches to tackling issues with Gambian agriculture. Your analogies are really out of context. What Gambians like you lack most of the time is exposure to alternative models of agricultural development that will ensure the production and marketing of agricultural produce in bulk!! This ensures that revenues are collected in larger amounts that can make a difference in laying out plans for the business and family budgets alike. Essentially what we have not seen in The Gambia. You may agree with me that all those farmers in Upper Saloum, Fulladu, Sabakh, Niamina Mamud-Fana and other regions that have made a name for themselves, were able to move beyond the subsistence level on their own sweat and ingenuity with little or no agricultural subsidies. One of the priorities of the current government must be to enable these farmers to forge ahead building on the gains already made on the ground. Who says that farmers that show promise should not be supported to bring their resources together to set up support and marketing services in the absence of crop subsidies? That is the trend in all modern economies! Does the government of the day still believe that these farmers do not have the smarts to move beyond this level? Give them some credit please!! The only places that we see produce, in the form of groundnuts only, being handled in bulk are government holding depots and the former GPMB facility at Denton Bridge (Sarro) where, unfortunately, accountability and standards of crop management have always been and are still poor. That is the system that the Brits left us and we (public servants) have not proven ourselves capable of transforming this archaic system for the benefit of the Gambian farmers. Is this by design or an indication of our level of thought? I like to think that it is by design. A reflection of the “what’s in it for me society”!!
I wish to suggest that the President should redirect the resources that he is currently playing with in his attempt at becoming the populist leader cum-food producer to actively enable local farmers establish and develop independent and autonomous cropping schemes that will serve to prove that “semi-literate” local farmers can also do this in the absence of deep pockets!! What it takes are effort and commitment to succeed and there is no shortage of these in rural Gambia. After all, the president’s model is not sustainable. However, I must commend any attempt at food production in The Gambia.
Frankly, you come across more as a government employee/part-time farmer than a traditional “SENELAA” that tills the soil as you have not said what your alternative proposal, if any, has to offer Gambian farmers. I am not sure either that some of the errors on your piece are a result of typographical errors or poor spelling but any reader will sense mental fatigue and the reduced capacity for discourse towards the end of your argument. At the end you did land and proved yourself a “Sheikh” AJJ cow-tower. I must be quick to congratulate you, albeit reservedly, for the progress that you claim to be making in farming in The Gambia as I am yet to see the average Gambian farmer reap the benefits of progress made in the 1980’s or the APRC era. You can also keep offering your services to the Sheikh’s farming operations in return for favors and subscribe to making him the only “large scale farm operator” in The Gambia while putting your own dreams on hold. My uncles in Niani Dobo and Badibu Jajari are telling me that they are still getting I-OWE-YOU tickets from the seasonal traders, the likes of SUUKUU, that offer to buy their produce but never show up with the “KHALIS” “KODO” “JAWDIDI” “E-BAKADABAYE” keeping everything in “SUUKUU” fashion. I am also told that they still cannot afford to buy the wives and kids a single bale of fabric for new attires at the end of the farming season. You know what I am saying? Who sounds more au-fait with events in The Gambia now? I have a gut feeling that you may be one of those Gambian officials on vacation in the UK looking to see whether to abscond or head back home. May be a staff of the Department of Fisheries, with APRC connections, on an award program in Portsmouth hoping to get a fast track promotion upon your return? Your reference to President Jammeh welcoming me with open arms and paying me more is highly suspect too. Is this an attempt at praise singing here or jockeying for clout? I must reply that I am quite satisfied with my engagements at this point but concerned with the current state of affairs in my beloved country, the short sightedness of folks like yourself and praying that the rule of law and good governance prevail someday. May be, your stint in the UK will help to change your outlook to life in The Gambia. Travel is a good thing I must add!
My friend Samba (Batchi), Kenya, Malawi and Lesotho, that you alluded to, are way ahead in the game. In these countries, you’ll find private African farmers that are able to move farm produce along the product line, transforming, processing and adding value before and beyond the farm gate. They also benefit from reliable contract growing schemes and lending facilities that bring the farmers decent returns that most Gambian farmers only hear about. You will also find private and autonomous Farm Service companies, set up and run by home grown locals. Most important of all, there is commitment to the cause by those riding on the bandwagon!! Not a bunch of opportunists looking for a free ride and handouts in the form of crop and other forms of subsidies. Also noteworthy is that there’s adequate proof in these countries that farming can be and is indeed rewarding. There are thousands of models in agriculture for young folks like you to emulate. Take a trip to Kenya, Uganda and Ghana and you’ll find young African farmers growing hectares upon hectares of bananas, grain, cocoa and coffee and making decent returns on their investment. These local farmers grow, harvest and market in bulk!! That is what we would like to see in The Gambia and not passengers on the bandwagon waiting for “HELP” as we know it in The Gambia. Help that comes in the form of donor funds but disguised as donations from “Sheikh” YJJJ. You need to visit the countries that you have cited in order to get a fresh perspective on the way forward for Gambian agriculture and then ask yourself why Gambians cannot do the same. You may very well benefit from a fresh dose of confidence that is such short supply in some Gambian quarters. Frankly, what all Gambians from a rural background, like myself and many others, want to see is proof that agriculture in The Gambia can really serve to better our lots as we have NOT seen our parents make headway growing groundnuts for a pittance or growing cotton for growing sake for decades. Why go back to the drudgery of farming, as we know it, if one can work as a security guard, a not so honorable “Green Boy/Girl” or household helper in the Kombos? Or a semi-literate customs watcher, raking in thousands of Dalasis for little work! Meanwhile, your mentor, if I may use that word, Sidia is a lone voice in his fight for the oppressed and is being incarcerated for expressing his views.
Ask anyone that has ever started a successful agricultural enterprise in The Gambia, what it takes to do this seemingly difficult and elusive feat and they will answer without hesitation that it is undoubtedly RESOURCES! Resources to enable the timeliness of investments, farm activities and being able to put fertilizer and other inputs when, where and how one needs to for decent returns to the investment. We are not talking about Fa-Samba Nyominka walking barefoot, plodding up and down his plot of millet broadcasting the “sukurr-maa” urea fertilizer with bare hands on the section on the plot that he can afford to fertilize. Or my buddy Samba Sowe, gazing away on a bench at the open waters of lower Portsmouth-on-the-sound and day dreaming about how a tractor, a plough, planter and his hard earned UK savings can turn his fortunes around upon his return to The Gambia.
Ask pioneers such as Radville Farms, Moukhtara Holdings, Yams Agricultural Enterprises, Jagne’s Poultry Farms and Gambia Horticultural Enterprises what it takes to run a modern farm and you’ll get some useful insight into modern farming as we would like to see it in The Gambia. I like to say that you will find that farming is as much of an art as it is a science!! We are not looking to farm in the manner of The Islamic Development Bank funded Women’s Gardens in Sukuta, Kafuta, Banjulunding and other locations where we have clear proof of what subsidies will not do to lift Gambians out of poverty. What our public policy planners dub Poverty Alleviation. Great donor buzzwords that only leave us with plundered and eviscerated VISACAs. Let us revisit Banjulunding again, courtesy of the Taiwan Agricultural Mission. A lot of hype and glitter backed with Taiwan Dollars and a token gift of transport from YJJJ. What happens when the subsidy dries up? The whole thing fizzles out after a few glamorous years and then passers-by on the Sere Kunda-Brikama highway will shake their heads saying: “this used to be a nice place” and how often have we heard that in The Gambia? The same scenario applies to the rice projects, freshwater fisheries, inland artisan fisheries, women’s’ horticultural growing, small-scale livestock owners’ associations, the GPMB Oil Mill and depots, GGC and the whole gamut that allow public funds to be siphoned off. When will Gambians in the public trust understand that the government budget, loan funds and subsidies for that matter are not the means to Social Security Retirement Funds and nest eggs? Crop subsidies have been and still are a great means to this end!!
It is most unfortunate that the plundering of public coffers has always been and still institutionalized in The Gambia and accepted as the norm in society. Most of the well to do in our society are not businessmen but folks that have been custodians of public funds. Former Accountant Generals, Permanent Secretaries, Managing Directors, Directors and other heads of institutions live the good life on loot that today serves as nest eggs in retirement. The best dressed folks at Friday prayers and those that get the most attention at public events are clearly tainted in character and do not have any legacy to leave for the younger generation but the same old “rat race”, empty treasuries and voids. I do not have an axe to grind with any of these folks but must confess that I come from humble beginnings with my folks paying their dues to the government, enriching local government officials but getting nothing back. I still do not have an all-season road to my village.
Surely, Mr. Sowe, this is not the kind of subsidy that our Honorable Sidia Jatta, who works tirelessly for the downtrodden, wants to see. I do not believe that you belong to the same league as Sidia either.
Subsidies come in various forms in most developed countries. Back-end subsidies in the form of matching funds and tax credits towards investments made, credit certificates and other financial incentives to offset the cost of infrastructure development and start up in selected regions. Subsidies may also come in the form of front-end subsidies such as subsidized loans, inputs and services targeting certain activities. The latter is by far the most common in The Gambia and has been subject to misuse and abuse as was the case with the GCU and other agricultural projects because the schemes are designed to be porous. Where beneficiaries have a vested interest in farm activities in the form of owner equity and other investments, the potential for the misuse of subsidies is greatly reduced. That’s the rationale for the popularity of back-end subsidies.
A quick example on the use of other subsidies in The Gambia is apt here. When OJ was in charge at the Ministry of Agriculture, the EU provided a subsidy to The Gambia for the purchase of groundnut seed nuts from any source to “HELP” Gambian farmers with seed for planting in advance of the cropping season in an attempt to alleviate the acute shortage of seed nuts in the country. We are talking millions of Euros here. Senegal, our neighbor, was identified as a source of seed nuts and the notorious Gambia Cooperative Union (GCU) of the day was tasked to purchase, collect and distribute the seed to local (“Seccos”) depots for redistribution to the farmers. As was the usual case in The Gambia, which by the way has not changed under the current leadership, a crisis situation was created out of this exercise. Every institution involved was in cahoots with the other with every head wanting a piece of the pie. GCU trucks were dispatched to Senegal. Seeds were collected and drivers, accountants, marketing officers and clerks were paid questionable per diem allowances as part of the exercise. These folks indeed helped themselves to the funds but the poor farmers hardly got any help. Some seeds reached their destination on time but a good part of the consignment did not. There was also no way to verify the quality or quantity of seeds purchased from Senegal and what was paid for the order. Some farmers supposedly got help with seed nuts for that year but the following year, the seed nut situation was back to square one. To make matters worse, the GCU collapsed shortly thereafter allegedly under questionable management practices and graft. Similar situations transpired with the government run fertilizer scheme, a largely subsidized affair, under the watch of the GCU and the Ministry of Agriculture. That is testimony to the callous nature of some public servants. In any other country including those that you cited, heads would roll but alas not in our dear Gambia. I can quote many more cases of subsidies that went awry in The Gambia pointing to the fact that subsidies in The Gambia, Senegal and a host of African countries are aimed at lining the pockets of a few privileged individuals in power. If one is a Project Manager appointed by the Minister, all you need to do is share daily dinners at his house with a dalasi-filled brown envelope in the Kaftans pocket and then rub shoulders with him at the local mosque on Fridays. Oh!! And not forget the beef and lamb hindquarters that must make it to his various wives’ houses on a set schedule. Practically engendering an “OSUSU” system that still thrives in The Gambia. Remember the Treasury saga and the EU fuel grant program, the APRC Rice fiasco, the Artisanal Fisheries Project, JICA etc. Wake up my brother! Wake Up!!
Agriculture may “employ” eighty percent of Gambians but look at the toll that it is taking on farm families in rural Gambia. If Gambian agriculture was that rewarding and the Niumi-Bakindick or Kiang-Karantaba farmers were doing as well as you, Samba Sowe, claim to be doing, the rural-urban drift could be greatly alleviated. I can guarantee you that there is hardly an able-bodied, young fellow left in rural Kiang-Misiraa (Dumbo-Kono), Fulladu-Sololo, Niani-Dobo, Badibu, Kantora or Wuli. If subsidies did work from Jawara “Jamano” to date, a.k.a. YJJ Jamano we would not be here today.
For a start, we could export your idea of “Processing” products to these and other areas, if there was stuff to process, in an attempt to gainfully employ Gambians in agriculture. Also transform all those abandoned and rusty GPMB structures that our country paid dearly for but are sitting idle in Kudang, Kerewan, Tendabaa, Kaur and other locations.
May be then and only then could we provide proof of subsidies at work somewhere.
By the way, the old GPMB facilities at Kaur, Kerewan or Barra could be good locations for processing and bagging rice from the upper reaches of the River Gambia if the government of the day would give the requisite attention to developing commercial rice production in The Gambia. Given that recycling and retooling these dormant depots would obviate the need for donor funds to construct new facilities to house budding enterprises in the agricultural sector.
As this piece is being written, I cannot help noting another piece in a local rural electric cooperative journal titled Carolina Country that goes:
“It was in 1928, and Jack Macon, now 81 years, remembers that his father, John Thomas Macon, unlike many individuals at the time, was optimistic about America. (Substitute the America for Gambia). He went to Greensboro in 1928 and bought a Model C Case tractor. It had a four-cylinder engine. You start the engine with gas (petrol) and then it ran on kerosene. Mr. Macon also bought a threshing machine to go with his tractor. I don’t remember what exactly was paid for the tractor and thresher but it was about $500 and some dollars. The tractor had steel wheels and flat rims”. (Note; there were no tires).
Mr. Sowe, the object of this story is to buttress the point that modern family farm operations in the US were started by simple folk that believed in putting their own equity to work for them. They did not sit there with hat in hand waiting for “help” in the form of subsidies to start an enterprise that would keep their families in business into the twenty-first century. When subsidies did come their way, it was like extra gravy on the stew that was welcome but did not stop the meal.
Now, if the Samba Sowes do not wish to be 21st century optimists, bury your heads in the sand and pretend that Barack Obama some day soon will cut us all a subsidy check from the Federal Reserve. The rest of us are marching on without subsidies that we can ill afford and you, the Sambas, can pray that the proverbial oil well in Fulladu-Bansang or Kombo-Kartong becomes a reality and may be then, we can all stop by the Central Bank to ask “Bakadabaye Omei” (Jola for where’s the money) and then each will be handed a subsidy check to spend as one wishes. Then in the company of Matthew Jallow, gray but still vibrant, we’ll decide on how best to spend this newfound largesse. Now that’ll be a nice and welcome subsidy! Our share of the pie!! A reward for walking the dusty roads of Sare Gainako, Sambang-Fula and Kombo-Madiyanna in the quest for education that makes us what we are today!!
Mr. Sowe, budding enterprises in the productive sector generally revolve around a hub that enables the production, management, processing and marketing of commodities in bulk. For instance, grain production should be supported by trained agribusiness field personnel, grain mills, storage sheds and silos, transport and marketing teams and the whole gamut that have a vested interest in the crop backed by reliable sources of funding for all operations. The great mounds of groundnuts that have dotted the Gambian landscape from time immemorial and constantly exposed to the vagaries of nature, have never served us well.
The livestock sub sector should similarly, be supported by the capacity to grow and transform stock and products that fill a need in the regional/global market and not necessarily the Senegambian market. Who says that Gambian livestock farmers cannot grow and export livestock and poultry products to countries in our sub-region? If Botswana, that is largely arid in nature, can do it, so can we. We need to be in the right mindset and stay on course with development goals and bring the bright minds to the table. Create a hub and potential investors and agriculturists with a sharp eye will see the opportunity for growing businesses around the hub.
These entities do not necessarily have to be part of the same production outfit but could work together toward a common goal with the support of public sector agencies. Integrate activities for economic gain.
Private equity, long term funding, vision and commitment are the driving forces behind progress registered in agricultural production in other regions and Africa is not going to be an exception to this rule. This area presents a whole new debate. What our farmers need is seed money to get started on the road to progress. I reference Mr. Rajiv Shah, Director of Agricultural Development, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on his assertion that funding for agricultural development is the key constraint to boosting agricultural output in Sub-Saharan Africa. Funding that, I believe, should come in the form of loans and other funds that the farmers can take ownership of and manage like their own hard earned money. Here lies the missing link in the subsidy debate in The Gambia and Africa at large where subsidies are regarded as leverage in the political game, a slush fund and government largesse and not for what it is intended for. A lifeline for meaningful agricultural change!!
Take a cue from agencies such as The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) led by Kofi Anan, The International Institute for Enterprise Development (IIED) and the Acumen Fund! Look into the philosophies behind their approach to agricultural development and you’ll see a dramatic shift from archaic models that characterize most African governments. In a recent AGRA Newsletter comment on the recent G8 Summit in L’Aguila, Italy, it is said “Integrated investments and government policies that provide Africans with finance and markets, good seeds and soils, and supportive trade policies will allow smallholders to transform their small-scale farms into commercially viable and sustainable enterprises”. This short statement bears several key words that are absolutely pertinent to agricultural development in The Gambia albeit that we need to move away from public service led schemes! Note that there is no mention of subsidies but commercially viable and sustainable enterprises. What we see in The Gambia are subsidized programs and growing schemes and white elephants of projects.
Mr. Sowe, our debacle is to create our own sources of funds for effective back-end subsidies and put these funds to good use for the benefit of the lowly rewarded and often un-rewarded Gambian farmer, the ultimate beneficiary. Not the public servant that manages the subsidy scheme!! This is where I do not totally agree with the AGRA approach to crop development in Africa. Creating institutions outside of government that will serve the needs of the farming community with impartiality and actively support the integration of production activities on the ground is a matter of urgency in most of Sub-Saharan Africa. Commercial enterprises targeting the areas highlighted by AGRA, the sponsors of The Gambia’s darling NERICA rice should be established! Bring private equity alongside public funds to set up sustainable farm input and seed companies, autonomous agricultural lending bodies and home-grown trading corporations that have no bearing to our archaic and scandal ridden national marketing agencies and co-ops. There is the absolute need for a concerted effort involving the private sector, with supportive trade policies, to establish autonomous livestock marketing companies that not only buy stock from farmers but also access modern breeding stock from reputable sources for onward sale to the Gambian farmer. Yes the VISACAS, Village Thrift and Savings, IBAS and other schemes have a place in transforming Gambian agriculture but they have been the target of abuse and corruption as was the case with the Gambia Cooperative Union Secco Societies where three different fellows had to be present to access the safe and the VISACAs where a committee oversees the funds. That did not stop the plundering of resources. Where a system is designed to enable loopholes, there is no way that one can stop the hemorrhaging of public resources. Let us boldly work to plug the holes in our system and hopefully the savings realized will motivate us to invest more in development. Let us look to our neighbors in Africa and Asia for models. We have the capacity to do this and it is in our own hands and NOT the DONOR community! Then and only then, will we start to see a ray of hope for Gambian agriculture!
Where is the money for subsidies coming from? From Allah’s World Bank, the Foni-Kansala Bank, the newly ordained Sheikh or Kombo-Naarang Oil Wells off the coast in Kartong? Or better still, The City of Portsmouth, your home away from home. Please note that our national budget is still EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT donor funded! That is, we go hat in hand to fund our way of life in The Gambia!!
By the way, I am none of what you offered Mr. Sowe. I am a PRAGMATIST!! And a Chinese one at that if that is any clue!
Samba, there’s a Mandinka saying that goes “CHAFU SEESAY MANG SILO KENIA LONG”. Meaning, a chicken carried by the owner would not know the nature of the road or terrain. Substitute the chicken for a whole bunch of folks in The Gambia today and you’ll get where I am going with this. I sure hope that you are not one of these.
One honorable trait that I would laud our one and only Honorable Sidia Jatta for is that HE IS NOT A “CHAFU SEESAY” in any shape or form albeit that I still do not agree with his stance on agricultural subsidies!!
Unfortunately, Samba Batchi, there’s too many “CHAFU SEESAYs” in The Gambia today.