Agriculture

Agriculture is the main industry in The Gambia but the profitability is limited so The Methodist Church's Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) has formed a partnership with a local organisation with the three objectives.

• Developing Skills
• Providing access to markets
• Achieving long term sustainability.

This, as we shall see below, is a short term project, Trinity will be making a contribution towards funding it during 2008.

This project is located at Njawara to the north of the Gambia River about 50 miles inland and some distance from the main markets.

Skills

Most crops in The Gambia are grown during the dry season but are in short supply between June and November while the rainy season persists. The project is teaching the skills needed to grow vegetables during that season thus extending the cropping time into the months when scarcity drives prices higher. Such crops are therefore more profitable and more valuable to the country.

Because skills, once taught, will remain in the community the project, though short term, will have long lasting effect.

Markets

Growers have traditionally sold their crops to middlemen who sell on to retailers. The growers had no real knowledge of market values or the best route to market. This meant that producers rarely achieved good prices for their produce and had difficulty in improving the lot of themselves and their families.

Gambia is Good

'Gambia as Good' is a marketing company set up by MRDF. They provide a direct link between producers and hotels and other outlets in the capital city and tourist resorts. Marketing information is used to discover which products are most in demand and which packaging is most effective.

Sustainability

By teaching agriculture and marketing, local skills can be developed which are sustainable in the long term. The wider range of produce and availability out of season are key aspects which allow the most profitable markets to be addressed. The result is of course a considerable improvementy in the income of those involved. This income can then go towards the small educational and medical expenses which would otherwise go unmet and the quality of family life is thereby enhanced.

MRDF plan to be involved in this area for a period of one to two years after which the project is expected to be self maintaining.