Agriculture Minister Urges Gambian Entrepreneurs to Engage in Groundnut Buying

The Minister of Agriculture, Amie Fabureh, has called on Gambian entrepreneurs to get into groundnut buying.

She’s currently on a nation-wide tour of farming communities as a follow-up to the president’s ‘Meet the People Tour,’ where she handed over some farming equipment to farmers such as rice and coos milling machines as well as power tillers.

Her government has been blamed for not buying the produce of farmers after the harvest over the years or offering very little money.

Consequently, many farmers have been crossing into neighboring Senegal to sell their produce. Following this year’s rainy season, many private entities in Senegal have also met Gambian farmers on their farms to buy their produce.

In her statement, Minister Fabureh suggested the need for Gambian entrepreneurs to imitate Senegalese private sector in patronizing farmers by buying their produce in order to complement the government’s buying power.

“If we have the private sector involved in the buying of groundnut, this perennial issue of groundnut buying will be a thing of the past,” she told the community of Pakau Njoggu, a community in the North Bank Region. She’s currently on a tour of farming communities across the country.

“I think what our private sector needs to do is to forge partnership with foreign businesses and businessmen who can come here to involve in groundnut buying just as it is happening in Senegal,” she said.

However, she denied the claim that Senegal is offering more to buy farmers produce than Gambia.

“They are saying Senegal is paying a better price for a ton of groundnuts, but this is not true. Senegal is buying a ton of groundnuts at D17, 850 while we (Gambia) are buying at D18,000,” Minister Fabureh disclosed.