Gainako Newspaper

..Food Security Is National Security
..........................By Bubacarr Sankanu, Cologne, Germany.......................May 13th, 2008
Honourable Suku Singhateh's exploitation of Gambian farmers, reported by The Gambia
Echo, does not speak well of the state of affairs. Suku's action could spell trouble for Jammeh's
Government since a hungry man they say, is an angry man. Gambians farmers might tolerate
the excesses of the National Intelligence Agency, the Army and the various Special Forces
recently created to consolidate Jammeh's power, but in the medium and long term, these
structures will crumble before an army of hungry protesting farmers. We should therefore not
be surprised when some of the farmers reportedly victimized by Suku Singhateh join this
uprising.

It is unfortunate that Gambian farmers have, since independence from British colonial rule, been used as common tools of
electioneering. Once the elections are over, they are forgotten, deceived and played with by the shrewd politicians they
trusted with their votes.

It is a pity that our Nation cannot pride herself with even a single successful food self-sufficiency project. The PPP
government could not even maintain the Jahali Pachar rice development project. Jammeh inherited and supported the
system of cheap rice imports. Some will blame the failures of our agricultural plans on the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) of the European Union which subsidizes the dumping of European leftovers on African food market. Others will
point fingers at the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the Bretton Woods Institution that strangulated local
capacity. The sad stories of the Gambia Cooperative Union and the Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB) would
convince others that the Gambian attitude contributed to the crises. Jammeh's policies would also be counted as part of
the problem.

Jammeh was dreaming about The Gambia's petroleum resources when he suddenly woke up to take charge of the
agriculture portfolio for a second time. Perhaps the global images of hungry farmers protesting high cost of food
stimulated him into action. He then made impromptu visits to the national agricultural facilities in the Greater Banjul Area.
The butchers who were playing their game according to the rules of the market did not escape Jammeh's jokes. I call it
"jokes" because Jammeh's tirades make me laugh. The current "Dialogue With The People Tour" can be seen as part of
the newly discovered populism to counter any possible farmers' revolt. The farmers would give Jammeh a new lease of
life as they prepare for this year's planting season. Some farmers, especially in the Upper River Region, will be expecting
remittances from their relatives abroad to buy seed and would therefore take Jammeh's promises with a pinch of salt.
However gone are days when farmers would just swallow empty promises from their political leaders.

Calls for self-sufficiency or stories of food shortage might make attractive sensational headlines these days but we should
not allow popular emotions to overshadow serious planning. We need medium to long term agribusiness development
policy. The producers of rice (our staple food) in Asia are also facing growing population and increasing pressure on
land use. We should not expect them to deny their hungry population rice in order to supply Gambians. If we cannot
produce our own rice, we must be prepared to pay the high prices dictated by the global fundamentals and the deals
sealed at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Abuja Security and Commodity Exchange. The Jammeh
Government and all those who got addicted to imported rice should learn to live with this new hard reality; if you do not
want to pay the high market prices for rice and meat, take farming seriously. Despite the propaganda, Jammeh and his
Government do not have the power to influence commodity prices. This does not mean they should cross their fingers
singing "the world market is to blame!"

The National Planning Commission should review our economic reorientation. In the period between the exit of the PPP
government and the entry of Jammeh's A(P)RC into to our political scene, there were talks of making our Gambia "a
service based economy." In one of those meetings I witnessed, there was consultant from the World Trade Organization
(WTO) who called for caution and diversity. He made reference to Malaysia's economic diversification programme with
a mix of services (tourism, banking), industrialization (manufacturing) and farming. He advised the policy makers to learn
from it. The Singaporean Model preferred by the elated executives is based purely on services. According to the
consultant the Political Economy of Gambia is yet not have what it takes to become a city-state like Singapore.

However, Jammeh has in the 14-year rule favoured the idea of a service based city-state economy as the development
of our tourism, transit (re-export) trade and banking sectors show.

The transit trade, promoted by the PPP remains prominent under Jammeh with at times disastrous government
interferences such as that chaotic pre-inspection regime. The political emphasis on services and trade made operators
concentrate on the buying and selling of consumer goods and services for quick returns. This has increased demand for
retail shopping space in the urban areas as developers and landlords struggle to meet demand. We are also facing tough
competition from sister countries working to become entry ports for the West African market. Ghana has a very
impressive port and route network serving the vibrant landlocked markets of Burkina Faso and Mali. Senegal and Togo
offer similar incentives. Our Government has a lot of work to do in convincing traders to ship their goods through the
Gambian territory.

On our banking sector, a commentator at allgambian.net recently asked. Why are so many commercial banks in The
Gambia? He raised serious concern over the mushrooming of commercial banks. Of course we cannot deny the fact that
we need a vibrant banking sector as "catalyst" of wealth creation but we must not forget that the banks in town are
offering short term loans for short term ventures. They are all competing to offer the same "joni-joni" products to the
same circle of depositors and borrowers, mostly formal sector employees and established business people with
securities. The aggressive competition among the commercial banks prompted Finance Secretary Musa Gibril Bala
Gaye's accusation of the bank of "economic greed." With all due respect my dear Honourable Bala Gaye, the
commercial banks are no charitable organizations; they are there are to make money, primarily, for their shareholders.
One cannot just blame the banks. The Government wanted a service-based economy and banking is part of the services.
So let the policymakers clear the mess they created instead of passing on the buck. If I should set up a bank or an
insurance company in the Gambia, I will equally be a merciless capitalist shark. The tough competition in the saturated
market of short-term consumer lending requires tough survival strategies to prevent another Continent Bank and GCDB
fiasco repetition. The recent seizure of Beyba Express by the Central Bank of the Gambia and the modest performance
of our oldest commercial bank, Standard Chartered, are a warning signal.

The Finance Secretary and his team should therefore go back to the drawing board. The Government should issue a
moratorium on the licensing of conventional commercial banks in order to stabilize and sanitize the market. It should also
encourage diversification into segments like rural and medium to long term investment or development banking. I think
we have learned our lessons from the disasters of the defunct Gambia Commercial and Development Bank (GCDB), the
Continent Bank and the Youth Development Enterprises (YDE). We should therefore set the stage for the promotion of
a new generation of efficient development banks that can, among others, help "hedge" our economy against the volatility
of the short-term consumption activities backed by the commercial banking products. This new development banks
should support the establishment of import substitution industries: we should not repeat the mistake of laying our national
eggs into the basket of the services only.

The global food crises are a blessing in disguise for they have spanked policymakers and the vagabonding speculators
awake. For investors with medium to long term agenda this is the best time to promote an agricultural development bank
in the Gambia. There is a market for such specialist banks in the Gambia. Farming is serious business and without capital
it won't work.

On the output side, we should ask ourselves whether our national dependence on groundnut as lead cash crop is at all
relevant to our current needs. The National Agricultural Institute (NARI) should publish its findings and should educate
farmers on the cultivation of the possible alternative crops to groundnut. The farmers should also speak with one voice
for effective collective bargaining. They should lobby for their interests just like their counterparts in the
telecommunication, tourism, trade and construction industries who monopolized President Jammeh's ears. I read about
the National Farmers' Platform on the Senegambinews.com. I encourage the members of this Platform to push for the
comprehensive implementation of their homegrown plans for self-sufficiency in The Gambia in partnership with the
Government and all other concerned bodies. Every dog they say has its own bone. Now it is time for the "ngainakos"
(cattle herders) and "senelalu" (farmers) to enjoy their share of our National Bone.

To encourage proper pricing and effective consumer education, the "lumo" (flea market) stakeholders should be given
the possibilities to publish their latest prices. We have enough media outlets that can capitalize on this niche by publishing
weekly or monthly price list of all key commodities across the Gambia. Already in sister countries like Ghana, market
women and farmers are using mobile phones to study the development of farm gate prices of basic commodities without
the middlemen, locally known in The Gambia as "jendanjaayolu." This system can work in The Gambia and if our local
mobile phone companies care about social responsibility, they should offer SMS/MMS price information platform to our
farmers and market women free of charge for at least five (5) years. This will not affect their shareholders. In fact it will
boost their brands and strength their customer loyalty. We will also have some peace at home since my poor butchers
would be saved from Yahya Jammeh's next tirades over pricing.

To encourage small to large scale agribusiness activities, the government should suspend import duties on farming
implements, tools, spare parts and food processing equipment. This will help our farmers increase their productivity. I am
not saying we should now start the wholesale promotion of large scale mechanized commercial farming. We need both
the traditional subsistence farming and the mechanized methods. We must not forget that we have only a National
Territorial Space of approximately 11,000 S/km. We must strive, through proper planning, to mitigate bloody land
disputes that are disintegrating farming communities and forcing quality manpower to the suburban shanty towns. I would
have loved to study the latest edition of our National Land Use Plan for a more accurate analysis. However, I would like
to call on our veterinarians, agricultural engineers and crop and soil scientists to come forward to educate our farmers on
effective farming techniques that would increase yield within limited farmland. My dear experts please come forward with
your productive ideas on how to create a working balance between ecology and economy in our beloved homeland of
the Gambia. Forget about Yahya Jammeh for now; my lovely "ngainako" in Sare Samba is more important (you laugh).

By and large, I would encourage the Gambia Government to be seriously business friendly. President Jammeh has so far
given business responsibility to people with no entrepreneurial skills or financial discipline. Genuine business people
cannot compete with these gangsters and womanizers as they misuse their closeness to President Jammeh to flout the
rules. In the end ordinary Gambians suffer. Take the examples of Baba Jobe (youth development enterprise, alleged
diamond and weapons smuggling), Suku Singhateh (alleged drug peddling in Germany, exploitation of Gambian
groundnut farmers), Aziz Tamba (embezzlement and abuse of privileges). We also read about members of President
Jammeh's own business interests like the Kanilai Family Farms and the State House motor vehicle department being
arraigned for embezzlement and mismanagement. This shows that the boundary separating due diligence and political
patronage is erased.

On the extreme end are the shrewd Lebanese who are exploiting the lucrative sectors of our economy just to transfer
their quick profits back to their home countries. The Lebanese are basically committing the same crimes President
Jammeh is accusing Carnegie Minerals and the prospective investors in Gambian petroleum of. Their regular charities to
Gambians during Ramadan and other religious occasions are pure cosmetic lobbying for sympathy and juicy government
deals.

Gambians the Diaspora are also sustaining the economy with their remittances. It just unfortunate the Gambian
Government is yet to recognize it. It is a bit disappointing. Neither President Jammeh nor any of his delegates is yet to
say "well done Gambians abroad." The Finance Secretary in his budget speeches keeps categorizing the remittances
under Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) instead of giving the Diaspora Devils their dues. This is just unfortunate
considering how far countries like Ghana and Mali are going in encouraging their citizens abroad. Nigeria recently
allocated a special housing estate for its citizens abroad who want to own houses back home without much stress. Just
recently a 200 Million U.S. Dollar Diaspora Investment Fund was launched to help re-attract the wealth of Nigerian
nationals abroad.

Whatever, the economic importance of Gambians abroad can no longer be denied whether our home Government
recognizes it or it.

The days of empty talks are over and now it is time to practice how to feed ourselves as a Serious Nation on our own
terms. Workers from other sectors might keep calling off their industrial actions (strikes) to respect Mansa Kangkang
Jammeh of Kanilai but an uprising of farmers will spell the beginning of the end of his rule� Food Security is National
Security!

Bubacarr@gmx.net

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