(JollofNews) – The Gambian regime of President Adam Barrow has lifted a ban on the import of onions and potatoes into the country.
The ban was imposed a few years ago by the previous regime of Yahya Jammeh “to encourage Gambians to take up farming and grow what they eat and eat what they grow.”
However, instead of revitalising the country’s ailing agricultural industry, the ban led to a shortage and price increment of basic commodities.
To reduce the financial burden on families, the new regime has with immediate effect set aside the ban which was unilaterally imposed by its predecessor.
“The ban on the importation of onions and potatoes is lifted. Therefore all importers of onions and potatoes are free to import these products,” said a statement from the presidency.
In a similar development, in pursuit of its open and liberal economic policies aimed at boosting trade and economic growth, the government has also lowered the duty on imported flour from 47% to the normal rate of 20%.
The government has also removed the additional measures of D1 per kilo of cement and a 5% excise tax.
Free trade is necessary for every developing country. In the short term lifting importation ban on onions and potatoes may help stabilize the basic needs for the population. Long term vision for the government should include strong support for agricultural production. This will free foreign exchange money from simple products that can be grown in The Gambia, for other products that we lacked economic advantages to grow/make at home.
Momodou Jarjou, free trade is good when the exporting country is not subsidising the goods that they are exporting, so that It’s cheaper to import than grow the produce at home.
A throwback to Jammeh/
His economic philosophy was to;
Ban it
Shoot at it
Jail it
Cure it
Leave it
Torture it
or kill it
Mike you will make a fantastic witness for the prosecution. I love it.
Let me guess; Yahya was growing onions and potatoes on his farm. Am I correct?
I suppose it will be hard for the Gambia to be self sufficient when it comes to agriculture, now a days combine harvesters come with GPS global positioning system, the farmers don’t even have to get out of bed to perform harvesting, everything is automated, the GPS are military grade and are accurate to the inch or it could be millimeter when you’re on 10 hectares it don’t really matter.
@ Grim reaper = If you have time please research what the Critics are saying about the Green Revolution in Africa. You can also see what Vandana Shiva said about what the Green Revolution and the giant global food regime corporations did in India and Asia in general. There is a lot to learn from these and make the decision on what type of agricultural production do we want to pursue in The Gambia. Thanks brother.
PEACE, I will.
Peace, yes companies like Monsanto PLC and co, have created a monopoly, where they sell GMO Genetically modified organism seeds, these seeds bear fruits that are seedless or if they do have seeds, the seeds are sterile/dead, so you have to go back to Monsanto for new seeds, at the moment anything made of wheat and soya are popular in the news as foods to avoid eating, and yes bad boy Yahya did ban all GMO seeds from the Gambia and rotten chicken parts, if I remember correctly, when I bought seeds in the Gambia to plant up my little farm, they were from either Sweden or Switzerland, the seeds were GMO free. The money now is in organic farming, that’s the direction The Gambia must go, and there is a big massive demand for baobab powder right now worldwide, but…….We need 24/7/365 power,
Barrow is on a joke thing.
@ Grim reaper = We want to be smart to choose a sustainable agriculture which will benefit us. You are right, all they want to do is to commercialized and monopolized agriculture in the developing countries. If we are not smart enough, eventually our farmers will lose their lands to these companies who’s purpose is production only for export and cash. Hopefully, we will be able to continue to have food security. These is what has been going on in India and in many Asian countries, seeds became monopolized and unaffordable to farmers. Farmers lose their lands and many of them committed suicide because their livelihood has been taken away. How about the environmental destruction as a result of the Green Revolution and commercialized farming. The IMF supports these agricultural schemes as a condition for their loans.
I don’t know what kind of agriculture our leaders want in The Gambia, but it should be a smart one.
@ Grim reaper= You might also like:
(1) Bello, Walden (2009) The food wars
(2) Lodhi-Akram Haroon (2013) Farmers, food Justice and the agrarian question
(3) Elenita, C. Dani (2007) Unmasking the new Green Revolution in Africa: Motives, Players and Dynamics
Raj, Patel (2012) The long Green Revolution
Sorry is Elenita, C. Dano (2007)
Plastic bag BAN is the only intelligent and correct ever Jammeh decision? EU are on war against plastic bag !!!
This will allow trading between ecowas region and strengthen our economy comes low prices.
You can bet your bottom dollar that Africa will be the test ground for GM. {biologically engineered food} It started with Dolly the sheep cloned to “perfection” Then they moved to crops { but found a lot of resistance and fear from the general public.
In 2o years time it will be human’s
But I got nothing to worry about/ am perfect already.
People are being cloned already? Watch this video, https://youtu.be/kUJspQBHCRIthen you decide
” Plastic bags” OMG I always forget to take mine to ASDA>>> I buy a 10 pence bag every time/ Yesterday I got sick of having no room in my kitchen drawers/ So yesterday I took over a hundred to the tip/ isn’t it just another case of opportunism>>>?
Asda started with a small 5 pence Bag and a larger 6 pence Bag for life/
They reduced the size of the 6 pence bag and increased its price to 10 pence/ now if you want a larger bag you have to pay 15 pence/
Profit from what was a good idea. That’s the way commercialism/ and profit/ go hand in hand.
Another piece of useless information. {smile}
I’m not a fan of banning things, if they are not harmful or contraband, so this news is welcome.
If we have the capacity to produce good quality onions and potatoes to meet national demand, and want to protect local market for our produce, then we must tax imports to make them less attractive than home grown.
Plastic bags are harmful to our rivers and you can see in the villages is just unhealthy so plastic bag should be banned years ago
Any packaging that’s not bio degradable should be banded.
Seeing this is mainly an African audience perhaps someone could answer this query????
Since 1991 I have had two african wives and going on for 3 dozen friends or girlfriends/ They all had one thing in common/ They would store plastic bags and never throw them a way/ When asked why/ they all said we never throw anything away that’s useful .
Everywhere I have been in Africa you see thousands of African’s carrying there own special plastic bag/ Just like tee shirts/ some are simple some are designer and some just carry their worldly possessions/ Any subjected comment ?
Sorry Mike but I disagree, since the banning of plastic bags in The Gambia my garden has been free of those black plastic bags that used to cover my garden every time thee was a wind. Maybe the people here do not consider plastic bags useful ‘cos you only had to stand at my local shop and watch people rip open the bag their purchase was in and throw it straight down on the ground or once they got home and removed the perishables from inside then toss it away.
Bax; are you mooting protectionism?
Well, if we want to protect local industry from unfair competition, we must have policy to regulate inward flow of “cheaper”, often, heavily subsidised commodities from outside.
One way is to levy extra taxes to create a fairer and balanced competition between local and subsidised, imported commodities.
Otherwise, we can forget about developing local industries, because we can never compete with countries that still maintain subsidies, have got better and efficient production techniques and longer experience in the business.
Unfortunately, the IMF “prescription” for us, often orders elimination of subsidies and liberation of trade: meaning elimination of all regulations that protect local industries, but that’s only because we are envisaged to play the role of markets for finished products and sources of raw materials and cheap labour for the industries abroad.
Our economies may have become a bit more sophisticated today than ever, but at their simplified levels, we have remained the same and played the same role: sources of raw materials and cheap labour, on the one hand, and Markets for (finished) products and services, on the other hand.
Banning plastic bags discriminates against homeless people/ Google Ralph Mctell ” Streets of London”
Carrying her world in 3 little plastic bags/
Bax; and here is me writing to Government about Trade Tariffs/ Fair Trade products/ and subsidies against African countries.
In any case your in a vulnerable position seeing as Gambia imports twice as much as you export. I would suspect that ration is even greater at the moment due to the collapse of Agriculture. If Your mooting Higher taxes on imports from Europe and the rest of the world you will surely come off worse. You will strangle the Gambian economy in the short term and put many businesses out of business.
You will also create food shortages which will push some food prices up/ Fine if you import from other Africa countries/ but here supplies will be limited and may be higher than EU and South America. The other effect will be to make African economies stronger and the Gambian economy much weaker.
Their are many other ways to tackle this situation/
“In any case your in a vulnerable position seeing as Gambia imports twice as much as you export.”, So I guess The Gambia is now even more vulnerable now that the onion and potato ban is lifted?
You are absolutely right and it will be madness to jump one morning and put excessive tax on imports. It must be a slow, gradual and sensibly managed process.
If we take rice production for example, according to 2014 statistics, Gambia’s requirement annually was 175,500 metric tonnes, but we only produce about 24,895 metric tonnes, which is about 15%; meaning we import about 85% of our rice requirement.
If we can achieve a modest 1% increment annually for 5 years, we would have increased our local tonnage to 20%, from 15%. This would make it possible to reduce our import bill by 5% in 5 years, from 85% to 80%, without causing any rice shortages. And if we can maintain the trend, then food self sufficiency in rice would be realistic and achievable, rather than being the dream that it’s been for a long time.
We may have to pay a bit more for our locally produced rice, but it is worth it, because it guarantees our food security, as rice is our staple food. The current situation leaves the country vulnerable to hunger and famine, if conflict was to erupt that disrupts global shipping and distribution. Reliance on imports to feed oneself is a dangerous policy that can have disastrous consequences for the population, particularly the children, if global security suffers any long term breakdown.
Ratio/ Not Ration sorry
I think for the youth its would be another reason to leave/ through even greater lack of opportunity. There has to be an alternative career path than driving a Yellow Taxi or waiting all day besides Jimpex in a wagon waiting all day for a job. Or Hotel security or Pandering to middle aged half naked white women lounging of beaches. Which manufacturing are you referring to? Spending 4 hours carving a wooden Giraffe and a tortoise with old fashioned tools to sell to tourists for 50 pence?
I mean to say ? Why did you and all the other commentators on here leave Gambia for Europe and America? Was it because you like rain and snow?
Does that mean that cement can be imported from Senegal by road?
GR///
With so much arable land available in Gambia fed by The River Gambia and under ground long term wells/ The solution is in your own hands. Look closely at what it is that your importing/ Then eliminate by self production/
For ever thousand Dalasis you save from importing you release one thousand Dalasis to invest in home produce/You cut down imports / need less foreign exchange/ and increase Gross Domestic Product. You also increase employment and stimulate money growth in the Gambian economy/
Not rocket science/ Just a sound and easily manageable economic policy/
Exactly as what Yahya use to say “eat what you grow and grow what you eat” enough said.
Empty slogan. He had 20 years to achieve it, but he failed, and instead, turned everyone into “strange farmers”, to work on “his farms”.
Bax, what does “strange farmers” mean?
A “strange farmer” is a farmer who is loaned farm land but he has to work for a number of days on his host’s farm every week during the farming season.
The “strange farmer” is usually a stranger in the host community and is housed and fed by his host until the end of the farming.
That’s ok if you like rice/ am an englishman/
Mashed Potatoes please /
I thought we were talking about economics?
One has got to eat to think;
” Food for thought”
Here is where government must exercise caution on pronouncements that have long term policy implications. Every modern economy has protectionist measures in place to protect vital industries from unfair trade practices. From milk and cheese in France, beef in the UK to potatoes in Idaho, governments craft legislation to protect the farming communities from what is in a nutshell, Competition, veiled as unfair trade practices!
In the effort to bolster certain priority areas in agriculture, government must also look to enhancing the internal capacity to produce a decent and profitable crop of tomatoes, onions or rice among others, through targeted policy. The Gambia’s perennial struggle to create self sufficiency in vital commodities has always been dogged by cheap and sub-standard imports of questionable quality that wouldn’t pass muster in the U.K. or the European Union (EU). It is common knowledge that European produce destined for export overseas may be wholesome but do not have to meet the stringent standards and guidelines demanded for exports to and within European or US markets. The trade practice of Dumping thus becomes commonplace!!
Vegetable cooking oil and what’s labeled Margarine or Mayonnaise for export outside of the EU are prime examples. The reason I wouldn’t touch these items in The Gambia!!
Yes, I am a strong advocate of free market competition and private sector led growth but in it’s nascent phase, the Gambian private sector, particularly in agriculture, must be shielded from unfair trade practices and dumping of cheap imports that Gambian and Lebanese importers flood our markets with. I believe that the wholesale lifting of tariffs on imports could serve to dampen local production in the medium and long term. Thus when the season for locally grown onions, tomatoes or potatoes arrives, levies must be imposed in order to afford local producers fair prices that command profitable farm gate revenue and returns to their investment albeit with enhanced quality management on the ground at the producer and marketing levels.
Similar measures could be applied to bolster rice production. I recall a conversation with a former Central Bank economist that said “If The Gambia can import rice cheaper from Thailand or Taiwan, why grow rice anyway. It’s a simple principle of economics at work” he said. I shook my head in dismay and asked why he, the Economist, wouldn’t want to see an enhanced local capacity for rice production and also test the age old principle of economies of scale. I was to discover later that this same economist had a vested interest (commission/kickback) in what turned out to be the APRC rice imported from Taiwan or thereabouts.
So what I learned was that the “bigwig economist/policy maker” with the Central Bank of The Gambia and other policy makers then and at this time may not be acting in the best interest of Gambians or The Gambia but will undoubtedly look out for personal gain at the expense of Gambians. So informed Gambians must constantly question policy decisions that impinge on their sources of livelihood.
Onions for example can be produced cheaper in The Gambia and at lower farm gate prices than imports from Europe with tangible data in support of this assertion. However, previous onion production schemes have been beset with massive post harvest and marketing losses that rendered the schemes unsustainable. Thus the need to draw upon the experiences of folks that were involved in those schemes become a must if we are to avoid similar pitfalls going forward. Senegal is also known to have imposed tariffs aimed at consolidating gains made by nascent dairy, tomato and fruit canning industries.
The Gambia must follow suit to protect nascent enterprises in the productive and other vital sectors. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with adopting non-tariff barriers aimed at protecting local industries albeit that the donor community may frown on that. However, strength in knowledge and capacity with trade negotiations are key items to the successful implementation of trade policy.
Not when you have, an APRC regime, water engineer acting as an executive and “all informed” trade minister or an NIA agent acting as trade attache at a Gambian embassy abroad!! Boy did they go wrong on that!! So Mr OJ Jallow, I’d like to get your input on agricultural trade policy going forward!!
Gosh Andrew, you are soooooooooooo right from so many angles that I could base a whole book on this your one paragraph. But I will STOP here!
Bax, I agree with your statement
“We may have to pay a bit more for our locally produced rice, but it is worth it, because it guarantees our food security, as rice is our staple food. The current situation leaves the country vulnerable to hunger and famine, if conflict was to erupt that disrupts global shipping and distribution. Reliance on imports to feed oneself is a dangerous policy that can have disastrous consequences for the population, particularly the children, if global security suffers any long term breakdown”.
With time, growing expertise, quality management support by targeted policy on the ground, The Gambia can certainly make a dent in reducing not only the overall food import bill but also commodities at lower farm gate prices.
By the way, Grim Reaper, the word “Strange Farmers” in agricultural extension lingo refers to migrant farmers that move to a region outside of their home for the sole object of seasonal farming. Not sure what Bax’s implies but you will understand that repeated trip to Nyomi for migrant farming can lead to marriage to a second wife. The fellow therefore settles down with the new found love and starts growing his roots instead of crops in the community and becomes poorer than when he started! Don’t we all love that!! Smile!
I’m so happy about the smart comments on agricultural production in The Gambia and Africa in general. Thanks to all of you.
Andrew/ If you were presenting a paper on the Gambian economy, I think your college “jargon” would only appeal to a person of similar background. In my experience what succeeds over and above hypothetical analysis and sophisticated theories is the workers having a basic motive to earn very little/or anything in order to survive. What I call ” Hungry Fighters” As such if you gathered a crowd of Farm workers and tried to explain your idea’s/ you would have great difficulty getting them to understand enough to put your ideas into practice/ All you would achieve is chaos and confusion.The Gambian farmer knows how to farm>>period.
You would have to change Gambian economic culture, when it comes to profit generation. I find your lack of local knowledge and what actually happens in Gambia very strange.
I was approached many times by “Budding Entrepreneurs” My good friend The Mayor of Banjul commented ” King Michael is holding court at The Atlantic Hotel”
On one day alone I had 113 People turning up with there business proposals looking for backing. They ranged from a few hundred Dalasis to Half a Million.
The common denominator was finance. Or lack of it.
Would I back this or that,,,,, is of no matter.
In short they had little or no money and wanted me to take the risk and they wanted the profit. What the American’s termed as ” The Grub Stake” in the panhandle Gold Strike in the 1800’s
This applied to the 50 or so British investors I was given through Trade International to introduce into The Gambia. Each with a project accompanied with project capital.
One was a well know British Agronomist who raised £120,000 to farm spring vegetables. He also managed Some of Jammeh’s farms and gave him oodles of advice, for which he gave free.
He lasted 3 years and lost everything. Every one of my investors lost everything and then some.
All except one who had a business in England and wanted to expand into Gambia. He survived and prospered. Where he was different to all the others was, he is originally from Sierra Leone.Thereby hangs the tale/
He never faced any of the disadvantages that the English investor did/
Myself I was asked to export Potatoes and Onions to a group of Gambians/ a couple were government officials.. I was to pay for the vegetables/ I was to ship the vegetables/ and we would share the profit/ They also asked me to ship motorcycles/ Same with my own business equipment/
The business moral of this experience is that I would take all the risk. Thankfully by then I could see the end game.
My own company in Gambia selling Business equipment lost £25,000 in 6 months. Fortunately I was able to write this off against tax.
Taking all expenses/ travel Hotels and expenses and equipment and offices/ and donations to good causes/ My total outlay was well over £250.000′
All I got out of it was total satisfaction that I did make a difference and 19 weeks holiday.
In my opinion the policy makers need to step with certainty and very simply/ Make good what can be made good/ put money where they know it works best. All this talk about trade tariffs and taxing selective food imports is unrealistic. Gambia needs to produce something first/ The best bet is investment in Energy and Agriculture. Your government would appear to agree.
Bax and Andrew, thanks for your replies.
As per Mike Scales:
“In my opinion the policy makers need to step with certainty and very simply/ Make good what can be made good/ put money where they know it works best. All this talk about trade tariffs and taxing selective food imports is unrealistic. Gambia needs to produce something first/ The best bet is investment in Energy and Agriculture. Your government would appear to agree”.
We are in agreement here and we are in this for the benefit of The Gambia. Ain’t it?
My write up, from a pragmatic Andrew that knows The Gambia from the mangroves of Kaamalo, through Sami Pachonki to the Sandu Pasamassy, targets policy makers that seem to be groping about in the dark. It is not targeted at the average Gambian farmer that couldn’t care less about the producer price index, Stabex or policy squabbles!! I must add that I have also been a private sector investor in The Gambia at the multi million Dalasi level that chose to cut his losses just as your savvy U.K. investors did to survive the vagaries of investing in The Gambia at the time (1997-2006). So you may beat up on me on that too as a timid investor!!
Tell your investor friends that the climate may just be right for a comeback to The Gambia and that your pal OJ is back at the Agriculture Ministry!
I am looking forward to the day that I’d shake your hand in The Gambia in the able company of my pal Dida, look you squarely in the face to say, Hi Mike, this is your online pal Andrew. Remember me? You do not have to worry about how I’d track you down, if indeed The Gambia is your adopted home country, as Toubabs aren’t hard to find in The Gambia on a visit to popular watering holes after 6 pm on a Friday (happy hour)! An item of discussion will be the French connotation, Falseur! Smile!
We would then share the jester’s court plus the attendant humor over rounds of tankard beer and further take stock of gains that we each have made on the ground!! Lets keep praying for that meeting. Si Ndiyo Ndugu Dida?
Ndiyo Ndugu. Nyumbani yangu ni Kotu na shamba/nyumba ni karibu ya Lamin Lodge. Karibuni! Huyu mwingine hana nyumbani nchi yetu – anaongea tu!
Kewli, Kweli! Una Wonna!
Asante Ndugu!
Am Tea Total Pal/ You sound just like Dida.
Dida you sound just like Andrew/ You and your alter ego will have to prop the bar up without me Dearie.
Ms Martin;….I was only joking; Today my first job was to recycle my bags/ My Garden waster and my plastic/ I did do the lazy thing and wait for the Bin men { they come every two weeks} I drove them to our brand new recycling plant In my Maserati.
Now I know the general consensus is that a Maserati is a gas guzzling giant of a sports car that is supposed to have a large carbon foot print.
Let me reassure you that its emissions logged on its MOT last November were less than a Ford Focus.
In any case My maserati is my mobility scooter with twin exhausts.
Thank you for taking the time to talk sensibly to me. May your garden bloom as much as mine.
Dida and Buba, I urge aspiring Gambian entrepreneurs to take advantage of the upcoming Dakar, Senegal business meeting under the auspices of the Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat (PSSG). This is a Public-Private sector forum, to be held May 24-25, aimed at promoting ideas and proposals, that will afford Gambian entrepreneurs the opportunity to partner with Senegalese counterparts. The forum also offers immense potential for joint ventures as Senegal has far more access to business resources and investor capital.
Let’s look to broaden our horizons in this endeavor, explore sources of soft borrowing and work to tap all possible sources of investment capital and resources for the benefit of young Gambian entrepreneurs.
It is absolutely important that the proceedings of this forum be broadcast on all media outlets for the benefit of the Gambian business community and aspiring Gambian businessmen/women!
Dida, going forward, the KiSwahili phrases “Kama Kawaida” (as usual) or “Wa Huko” will be more apt for folks that choose to wallow in the muck.
We will stay above of the fray! Hahaha!
Kweli, Andrew. “The Taifa” is, I believe, on solid grounds and in the hands of serious “Waheshimiwa”. Tusker drunkard “Wa Pombezi” can’t be allowed to derail it. “Polle Polle” is the motto and it is being practice by Gambians with “Kichua Mzuri Sana”. “Wajinga ni Wajinga” and all they do is indulge in “Kelele” na “Matata”!
Roho yangu inasema kila kitu itakuwa mzuri kwetu nyumbani. Remember the song:
“Oh Africa nchi yetu;
Tunataka kuungana;
Tujenge taifa yetu”.
“Harambee!”, alisema Mzee – let us pull together.
Shikamo, Hasante, Jerre Jeff, Chi Jaama, Al Baraka – all for “Wa Ndugu”!
Dormu Rewwum Gambia (aka Luntango Suun Gann Gi) That’s not fair, Jerre Jeff, is the only thing I overstood.
LoL! Apologies Grim Reaper! Andrew please translate into Wollof – ha ha ha!
No problem, Lol.
The problem is, when I’m out there everyone wants me to learn their language, where do I start?
Come, come Grim Reaper! 99% of understanding each other is based on the VIBES between the speaker and the listener. I am sure you understand my Swahili vibes as much as Andrew does. OLV! One Love Vibrations – Brav!
The new governments Hotel bill can sponsor farmers and reduce food exportation special from China and some of African countries Gambia still need strong leadership no luxury lifestyle .