On Friday, December 13, farmers in the North Bank Region’s Lower Saloum, Upper Saloum, and portions of Ngayen Sanjal voiced concerns over the shortage of money at Seccos. The weak peanut yield was also criticised by the farmers.
We have written on the state of the trading season in the Upper River Region (URR), Central River Region North, and Central River Region South in previous issues. We examine the North Bank Region (NBR) in this issue.
The government announced the start of the 2024 groundnut trade season in a press release on December 4, 2024. The season will conclude on March 2, 2025, the government further announced. The price of groundnuts was kept at D38 per kilogramme by the government.
Foroyaa carried on with its custom of keeping an eye on the trading season. In order to track and evaluate the 2024–2025 trading season, the reporter visited the seccos in the two Saloum districts as well as various areas of the North Bank Region and spoke with a variety of farmers.
The correspondent said that the second Secco in Kaur had not done much to get ready for the start of the trading season. Due to the existence of dry grasses and other debris, the secco’s (purchasing centre) land space has not yet been removed.
According to that secco’s president, Eliman Bah, the members of the committee in charge of running the secco have met and talked about the trading procedures, and preparations are well underway. In order to emphasise the difficulties and achievements of the most recent trading season, he said, the committee also met with representatives of the National Food Security Processing and Marketing Corporation (NFSPMC), formerly known as The Gambia Groundnut Corporation (GGC).
Eliman responded that the government often provides seccos with financial support to pay labourers to clear the property when questioned why the secco was not cleared as part of the trade season preparations.
We’re holding out for it. We will promptly clear the secco after receiving it. Some seccos have had their properties removed, but we won’t take long to complete the process,” Bah stated.
Eliman Bah recalled how well his secco had performed the previous year and mentioned that he had purchased more than seven million dalasi (D7,000,000) worth of groundnuts. He said that even though farmers have been complaining about their poor harvest this season, he is hopeful that he would purchase more.
Farmers like Eliman Bah pleaded with the government to give seccos enough money.
On her farm in Njau, Upper Saloum, Fatou Ceesay was discovered winnowing groundnuts. Because the Seccos rely on agriculture for their livelihood, she argued, the government ought to provide them cash. She clarified that although males in Njau support the family with food and other necessities, women are more involved in gardening. According to her, the burden falls on women when males are unable to support their families, which is why this year’s crop failure is concerning.
There was nobody on the ground at Secco 1 in Kaur. It was noted that although the wider circumference of the area is covered with various types of grasses, the front face of the secco has been cleared of grass.
Given that a fence has been erected to enclose the secco’s perimeter, it was noted that residents of Ballangharr in the Lower Saloum District are getting ready for the trading season. No person or pile of groundnuts was discovered on the ground by the reporter.
Mamut Touray of Ballangharr Benteng was discovered sleeping beneath a tree.
“I have high-quality groundnuts and a good yield. My nuts weigh a lot. I planted them early. The quality of those who planted their seeds early is good. The only issue I have is that I’m harvesting less than I used to in previous years,” Mamut stated.
There was nobody on the ground at the Njayen Sanjal secco, and the grasses were all over the secco equipment. Unlike other seccos visited, the centre shows no signs of the start of the trade season.
According to Ousman Mbye, a well-known farmer in the region, their groundnut crop was poor. He claimed that while some farmers had low harvests of poor quality, others had good harvests despite the low amount.
“I think my groundnuts are of good grade. I work as a large farmer. I used to collect sixty to one hundred bags of groundnuts from my enormous hectares of groundnut cultivation, but this year I only anticipate harvesting fifteen donkeys. He remarked, “We are still winnowing the nuts.”
Farmers reaffirmed their demand that the government give the seccos financial support.
The government was urged to release funds at Seccos by Ousman Touray, Mamat Njie, Baka Secka, and Gumbo Ceesay from Njayen Sanjal and Kinteh Secka from Daffeh in Sanjal District. They claim that small-scale farmers are being forced to sell their produce to retailers at a discount due to a lack of funding.
