Pig prices have nearly doubled in some parts of The Gambia this year, adding more financial burden to the already many financially-burdened Christian families, celebrating Christmas and the New Year, JollofNews gathered from multiple sources.
“Last year, I bought a pig for D4500 but I had to pay D8000 this year to be able to get one,” one of our sources said.
Pig, which is also referred to here as Fine Boy, is the animal of choice for many Gambian Christians during this festive season.
“I could not afford my own pig this year, so I had to fall back on humble chicken to celebrate the Christmas with my family,” a teacher in one of the public schools in CRR, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained to JollofNews.
One of our sources blamed the surge in pig prices on the “increasing monetization of the Christmas season and the avarice of some pig breeders”, but another man said the issue was down to the dwindling interest in pig husbandry in the country.
“Unlike in the PPP and APRC dispensations when leftover foods could be found anywhere and at any time in both rural and urban Gambia, pigs are not being spoilt under the Barrow administration as food insecurity deepens in many Gambian households. The days of the leftovers or Nyami Mbam have long gone, consequently discouraging many from rearing pigs,” a one-time pig breeder, Marie Therese Gomez, said with nostalgia.
However, one of our interlocutors blamed the government for not “adequately” supporting the national pig breeders collective, hence the “dwindling enthusiasm” for pig husbandry.
The government has been approached for comments.
