Gambian farmers have been selling their produce—groundnuts—to the government for decades since the government seldom pays enough for farmers to buy groundnuts at different purchasing points, leaving them in a difficult financial situation.
Farmers in the North Bank Region have bemoaned the lack of sufficient funds to purchase their agricultural output, groundnuts, forcing them to sell on credit at purchasing stations while they wait for the government to provide cash. This year’s trade season is no different.
Their precarious circumstances were made worse when the government forbade farmers from selling Senegalese merchants their main agricultural product—groundnuts—because doing so would reduce the amount of products that the nation exports to the global market.
Farmers in Sabach Sanjal District claim that the government purchases their groundnuts on credit due to insufficient cash at the purchasing locations (Seccos).
A farmer from Ngayen Sanjal named Mod Gaye told Foroyaa that their groundnuts are not being paid for, which has placed them in a terrible predicament. He called this “insensitive and challenging” for farmers. He claims that while credit purchasing makes farmers’ misery worse, the government is indifferent to their situation.
We just have our agricultural produce—especially the groundnuts—to depend on. To feed our family, we depend on the money we get from the sale of groundnuts,” he said.
“I have previously sold the government my groundnut on credit, but I have not received payment, which makes it difficult for me to pay my family’s expenses. They need to pay us on schedule since the government forewarned us against selling Senegal our groundnuts.
He continued by saying that the money the government often gives the agents is insufficient to compensate all the farmers who deliver their groundnuts to the “seccos,” leaving many of them underpaid as they wait for more funding to reach their point of purchase. According to him, this forces a lot of underprivileged farmers to sell their groundnuts to intermediaries for less money so they may support their families.
Similar comments were made by Dibba Kunda resident Pape Secka, who asked the government to provide enough money so they could pay for the groundnuts they had borrowed.
He said, “The government gives money, but it’s not enough to pay for what they’ve taken.”
“Most of us are not paid, even though we have given the government credit for our groundnuts.”
He notes that farmers must work very hard to support their families, so not receiving money on time might put them in a difficult financial position. He also claims that farmers often face major financial difficulties since their whole life relies on the products produced on their farms.
Under the condition of anonymity, a farmer and intermediary who purchases groundnuts from regular farmers said Foroyaa that the government sends money to their purchasing locations once a week. But he claims that once the purchasing points cover the middlemen’s groundnut costs, not much money is left over for the regular farmers who sell modest amounts and postpone payments in anticipation of receiving more money. He pointed out that this makes their predicament worse since they are in severe need of money to pay for other commitments and household needs.
The enormous amount of groundnuts sold by intermediaries causes a cash scarcity at our purchase stations, he added. “After they pay us, there is not enough money to cover all the farmers who have given the government credit for their groundnuts.”
This trading season, the government only gives cash to the buying points where the middlemen and regular farmers sell their groundnuts. In previous trading seasons, the government gave money directly to middlemen to buy groundnut on its behalf, leaving the buying points for the regular farmers who sell in small quantities to relieve pressure on the “seccos.”