A call: back to the land

The author of this article wishes to thank His Excellency the President, Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh for his call for people to go back to the land, a way of encouraging farmers to reform agriculture in The Gambia.

The objective of this article is therefore to raise awareness on the importance of agriculture to the Gambian public, particularly our young Gambians in schools. They are the future leaders and farmers of The Gambia, a developing and agricultural country in West Africa.

During the pre-independence period in The Gambia, very little or no emphasis was placed on Agricultural Education.  More emphasis was laid on learning what was known as reading, writing and Arithmetic than on work-orientated subjects like Agriculture.

The Gambia government, realising the agrarian nature of the country and the importance of agriculture in The Gambia’s economy, has put a strong argument in favour of agricultural education in schools through School Farms and Gardens of which I was one of the pioneers. 

I actively participated in the 1985/86 Dakar UNESCO Workshops on the “Integration of Productive Work in our Educational Programmes” held in Lome and Porto Novo in Togo and Benin respectively.  The development of practical agricultural teaching in our schools was then recommended and later, the establishment of the School Farms and Garden Project for the Gambian schools was initiated.

Agricultural Education should therefore be given its rightful place in The Gambia School Curriculum.  Agricultural Education for schools is a life-long process whereby the younger generation is prepared for life in their own socio-cultural and economic environment. 

The Gambian society is largely agricultural ad large numbers of the youth who have been to Primary and Secondary schools leave the countryside in search of work and a bette life in towns and cities which are already glutted with unemployment. 

The acquisition of agricultural sector in The Gambia should be the main source of food as well as export earning.  More than two-thirds of the country’s population derive their living from agriculture.

The following questions will help us to come out with suggestions and answers on this important topic to find a way out of the farming problems confronting our adult farmers, mainly caused by negative attitudes towards agricultural production. 

As a result of this, it is being suggested that we focus on young Gambians in schools in order to replace these negative attitudes with positive attitudes in our future farmers who are now in the school system.

•Are young Gambians in schools able to define the term “Agriculture” and its importance to the Gambian people?
•Do students know the role and efforts the Gambia Government is making including the concerns of the public in agricultural development, especially in food production?

•Do students understand the difference between subsistence and commercial farming among the farming systems?  Why are the majority of Gambian farmers poor?
•Why is it necessary to focus on young Gambians in schools for The Gambia’s agricultural development?

As school gardening is a part of agriculture practiced in schools, young Gambians in Lower and Upper Basic and Senior Secondary Schools should therefore, understand what agriculture is and its importance to the people.

“Agriculture” includes the arts, sciences and industries utilized by man to obtain food.  Agriculture includes not only the production to plants and animals useful to man but also many of the operations involved in marketing them, as well as some of the service industries, sullying machinery and material used in farm production.  Agriculture has an important place in our economy.

Farming in agriculture is very important.  It is the world’s greatest industry.  About 75% of the population in West Africa including The Gambia, spend their lives ploughing the soil, sowing and harvesting crops and raising animals to provide the population with food and many other products.  it is important for young Gambians in schools to know that effective agricultural practices will transform The Gambia to a self-sufficient nation, earn foreign exchange and provide self-employment for our thousands of school leavers after their school career.

Young Gambians in schools should be made to understand the role of government and the public concern in agricultural development because many of these young people will become the future farmers.  Government’s role is very important but must be supported by the public to develop the farmer to become a role model or a pilot farmer.

Government is determined to achieve long term goal for self-sufficiency in food production, an increased domestic production of traditional coarse grains to minimize rice importation in the country.  Priority is also given to irrigated agriculture.  This could be done effectively due to the existence of the River Gambia which provides abundant fresh water. 

The government is also intensifying the development of the horticultural sub-sector for the production of high value fruits and vegetables for export and supply to the expanding tourist industry.  The rational exploitation of our fisheries resources is also being encouraged in order to increase supplies to the tourist industry and to the local population for a major source or protein.

The Ndama cattle in The Gambia is an asset for domestic meat consumption and for export.  The aim of the government is therefore to ensure a sustainable livestock industry to meet domestic meat requirements for the general populace and for the tourist industry. Our students in schools should know that government alone cannot develop agriculture in this country therefore, the role of non-governmental organizations in supplementing government efforts is highly appreciated. 

To name a few, who have made efforts in this area are:WARDA (West African Rice Development Association) Caritas, CRS, Action Aid, St. Joseph’s Family Farm, CCF.  GAFNA, and many others.

The efforts of The Gambia government, as already mentioned, headed by President Jammeh with the supplementary efforts of non-governmental organizations in the country to develop agriculture, is not effective because the majority of Gambian farmers lack interest, motivation and the sense of ownership and accountability in their farming projects, despite all the assistant and encouragement given to them by government.
The problem is that the present adult farmers were not motivated and molded when they were young in their homes in the school system and this has resulted in their not realising the benefits of agriculture and thus developed negative attitudes to faming, thinking that agriculture is an occupation for the poor.

A suggested solution to this problem based on my life-long teaching experience is not only to concentrate on our adult farmers with negative attitudes but to tackle our young Gambians in their homes or in the school system, from selected schools, if not all, to give practical agriculture as a subject, its rightful place in the school curriculum, practically assessed and examined like Mathematics and English.  This will motivate teachers and young Gambians in schools to appreciate and like agriculture as a noble and profitable occupation.

Some members of the public are also concerned about the present attitude of farmers towards agricultural development especially on food production and the food crisis facing the world, to which The Gambia is no exception.  Imam Baba Leigh made some remarks during the Friday congregational sermon on food crisis and poverty published in the Point Newspaper on Monday 28th April 2008. 

An extract of the quotation reads “We in The Gambia have no cause to complain as the country is blessed with a navigable river with fresh water and vast land for cultivation.”  He concluded by emphasizing the need for people to take up agriculture seriously for the betterment of the country.

Students in school should understand  the farming system practiced in their own country if they want to be farmers.  The transformation of subsistence farming which the majority of Gambians are practicing to more productive form of agriculture (Commercial agriculture), requires the development of agriculture through the acquisition of agricultural knowledge and skills in good production.
To be continued

The author who is an agriculture educationist is motivated and had the same idea of promoting agriculture as President Jammeh is doing now.
When he started teaching in 1953, in Bwiam primary school, Foni Kansala, he emphasized the importance of the teaching of practical agriculture to young Gambians.

He is a Gambian who has sacrificed his time and energy, traveling by boat with the Fulladu and Lady wright and over-land to teach in many primary and secondary schools in all parts of the country.

He was also a senior agricultural science education lecturer at The Gambia College and an agricultural science examiner for the West African Examination Council and interacted with young Gambians in mission and government schools.

He worked with Caritas (NGO) on women, village and school garden agricultural programmes; also with crops members at the NYSS Nyaniberi and Sapu rice farms as farm manager, teaching the NYSS youth to acquire agricultural knowledge and skills in crop and animal husbandry.

He has written several agricultural science textbooks for schools, based on his teachings and field-work experience. He is a graduate of Njala University in Sierra leone and Worcester College of Higher Education, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, specializing in agricultural education.

Among the textbooks written by the author is the “Gardening Guide for Schools on the Production of Vegetables and Fruit trees and an “Agricultural Science” for Senior Secondary Schools and Colleges in West Africa, covering the examination requirements for the West African Council certificate.

The book has 162 pages and is divided into four chapters covering Introduction to Agriculture, Basic Concepts, Soil Science, Crop Science and Animal Science.  The forward of this informative and practical agricultural textbook is written by Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, President of The Gambia to encourage other Gambians.