Despite The Gambia government’s assurance months ago that it has placed an order for the importation of 150 tractors for the farming community, the hardwares have yet to arrive at the Banjul Port a little more than 10 days before seasonal rains set in.
JollofNews has gathered from a senior Gambia government functionary that the government has used millions of dalasi to import 150 tractors that would be loaned to farmers and farmers’ associations across the country.
However, the scheme is facing serious challenges such as the credit-worthiness of many Gambia farmers and farmer associations, who rely on subsistence agriculture to feed themselves.
Some people also hold the view that the non-arrival of the tractors less than 15 days to the beginning of the 2025 rainy season, as forecast by the Gambia’s ministry of water resources, will pose a logistical nightmare in terms of their distribution.
The Gambia government has yet to make any public announcement as to why the tractors could not still arrive into the country a few days until the 2025 rainy season.
Meanwhile,the 2025 seasonal rainfall forecast for The Gambia, which was released recently, predicted the start of the rainy season in The Gambia “to be late to normal in most areas of the country”.
“In the eastern and central regions i.e URR and CRR, onset is expected between 12th and 19th June,2025,” the Gambia’s ministry of water resources forecast.
The 2025 rainy season is expected to end between 20 and 26 October,2025.
