History

History of Extension and the Enabling/Eisabling Environment

A report of the Department of Agriculture of the Colony of the Gambia for the year ending May 31, 1937, written in Bathurst (presently called as Banjul) indicates how interested and excited was the Seyfu (chief) of the Foni Brefet District while asking the Department’s assistance in laying out an area similar to that being cultivated by the Department of Agriculture.  At that time, the Gambia was still a British colony. Men from various villages of the district came in and contour-terraced, bunded, and leveled an area of about two acres under the supervision of a European Agricultural Officer. The area was handed over to the people of Bulok, a small village, and the production of two crops, both superior to the one previously raised, was expected to make a considerable difference in the well-being of the people. The farmers, after only one year, considered the methods of cultivation as revolutionary and were taking active steps to copy the methods demonstrated. As the Seyfu was anxious to expand similar demonstrations in other parts of his district early next year and then each year thereafter, two valleys were selected, one near N’Demban and the other near Somita. As there was no rest house near these places, the people offered to build one for the convenience of the European Agricultural Officer. 

Although Gambia gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, a Department of Agriculture was not established until 1923. The main mandate of the department was improving the quality and quantity of the groundnuts cultivated for export. The department started covering food crops also only after the country’s independence.

The Gambia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) was founded in 1967 through the merger between the Gambia Employers’ Organization and the Bathurst Chamber. The GCCI covers several sectors of the business community including agriculture.

Soon after Gambia’s independence, two major projects were implemented. One was the USAID-funded Integrated Pest Management Project (during the 1970s); and the other the Agricultural Development Project (ADPII), jointly funded by the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Italian Government (1972 to 1982). Various institutions including agricultural extension services were strengthened under this project.

The Department of Agriculture established Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in 1977. ARS was the first agency responsible for the coordination and implementation of crop research in the Gambia.

The USAID-funded Mixed Farming and Resource Management Project was implemented from 1981 to 1986, and the USAID-supported The Gambia Agricultural Research & Diversification Project was started in 1985.

The Structural Adjustment Programs such as the Economic Recovery Program launched in 1985 and the Program for Sustained Development implemented in 1990 were executed with the primary aims of reducing government expenditures and stabilizing the economy and consolidating the gains achieved. The programs, however, had a negative impact on the agriculture and natural resources sector, resulting in increased poverty among the farmers.

In 1988, the ARS was replaced by the Department of Agricultural Research, and the same year, the National Agricultural Research Board was established.

In 1993, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) was established.

The World Bank-financed Agricultural Services Project (ASP) was implemented from 1993 to 1999. The project supported agricultural research, extension, and training.

Starting 1994, the government paid considerable attention to the strengthening of agricultural extension services. Components on extension were included in several donor-funded projects. However, according to the National Planning Commission of the Gambia, the share of expenditure for extension services decreased from 73.8 per cent in 2001 to 30.3 per cent in the 2006 budget.

In 1996, Gambia formulated a long-term plan called The Gambia Incorporated Vision 2020, aimed at transforming the country into a middle-income and export-oriented nation by the year 2020. The Vision 2020’s priorities and strategies for the agricultural sector include the improvement of mobility, organization and program management of the extension system to enable it to provide and sustain a flow of technological and technical information relevant to the production problems of the farmers. Similarly, the livestock extension services are to be reorganized through the placement of well-trained technical advisory officers, improvement in animal husbandry management, public-private partnership and the involvement of livestock owners associations and NGOs.

The Department of Agricultural Services of the Ministry of Agriculture took care of the public extension services. The Department performed this function through its 25 centers located across the country.

An important initiative was undertaken for the agriculture and natural resources sector, i.e. the formulation and validation of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector Policy Framework 2009-2015. The policy initiative supposedly gives the sector vision “a sharpened focus on transformation of the sector from a traditional low output, subsistence economy with centralized structures, to a modern, market led sector with efficient value chains, diversified production base and effective decentralized structures”.

Another important policy initiative undertaken by the government was the National Policy for Advancement of Gambian Women. Its objectives include: (i) to enhance and develop the productive capacities of women with a view to increase their contribution to household welfare and food security in particular; (ii) to reduce drudgery of rural women so as to enhance the quality of their life; and (iii) to increase women access to production resources, inputs and support services. A Youth Policy was also formulated on the same lines.

In 2002, the Local Government Act was passed for devolution of power to the local government authorities. Regional, district, ward and village development committees were formed under decentralization mainly to facilitate the implementation of the Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan (described later).

In 2007, the National Agricultural Development Agency (NADA) was created. One of its objectives was to bring together various services under the Department of Agriculture, including agricultural services (crop production and monitoring; soil and water management and conservation; extension; mechanization etc.), livestock services (production, health, marketing, etc.), and cooperatives (organization and coordination). As extension services were weakened under the NADA, the agency was dissolved in 2008.

In 2008, the Ministry of Agriculture restructured its technical departments into the Department of Agriculture (now called as the Department of State for Agriculture) with nine Service Units and six Regional Agricultural Directorates. The Service Units were: Planning Services; Communication, Extension Education Services; Food Technology Services; Animal Health and Production Services; Agribusiness Services; Crop Protection Services; Agricultural Engineering Services; Soil and Water Management Services; and Horticulture Services.

In 2010, the government announced the Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan (GNAIP) 2011-2015. GNAIP is the medium-term strategic plan towards achieving the vision for the agricultural and natural resources sector and food security in the country within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa (NEPAD) Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). The GNAIP comprises the following six strategic programs:

Program 1: Improved agricultural land and water management (one of its three components is “capacity building of support services institutions”)

Program 2: Improved management of the other shared resources

Program 3: Development of agricultural chains and market promotion

Program 4: National food and nutritional security

Program 5: Sustainable farm development (one of its three components is “capacity building of support services and farmer organizations”)

Program 6: GNAIP coordination, monitoring and evaluation

The Gambia has indeed received generous technical and financial assistance in agricultural and rural development and rural poverty alleviation from many donor agencies and countries. Some of the donors are the African Development Bank (AfDB); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); United States Agency for International Development (USAID); Islamic Development Bank (IDB); World Bank; European Union; Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED); Global Environment Facility (GEF); World Food Program (WFP); Taiwanese Agricultural Technical Mission; Government of Italy; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); UNICEF.

Some of the donor-funded projects, either completed or ongoing in Gambia, in addition to the projects mentioned in an earlier section, are as follows: Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP); Rural Finance Project (RFP); Farmer Managed Rice Irrigation Project (FMRIP); Multinational NERICA [a variety of rice] Dissemination Project (MNDP); Participatory Integrated Management of Invasive Aquatic Weeds Project (PIMIAWP); Peri-urban Smallholder Improvement Project (PSIP); Lowland Agricultural Development Project (LADEP); Rural Finance and Community Initiatives Project (RFCIP); Artisanal Fisheries Development Project (AFDP); Small Holder Integrated Project (SHIP); Livestock and Horticulture Development Project (LHDP); Gambia Lowland Development Project (GALDEP); Africa Emergency Locust Project (AELP); Irrigated Rice Development Project (IRRIDEP); Food Security through Commercialization of Agriculture (FSCA).

Presently, the Communication, Extension and Education Services (CEES) Unit, located in the Department of State for Agriculture is responsible for providing public agricultural extension services in the Gambia. Since 2003, the Farmer Field School has been a popular extension methodology in the country, first for the livestock and then for crops. The geographical coverage by extension is limited by constraints such as little mobility, fuel shortage, a lack of human resources and inadequate operational budget.

Table 1: Human Resources in the Extension System of The Gambia as of 2010

Source: Survey conducted under the Investment Assessment Project of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010)

Extension Providers

Major Institutions Providing Extension/Advisory Services

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture has overall responsibility for agricultural extension services in the country. Its Department of State for Agriculture (DOSA) carries out the extension functions through its Communication, Extension and Education Services (CEES) Unit, which states its mission as promoting a vibrant and pluralistic extension service delivery system, supported by a cohesive research/extension/farmer linkage. Program activities of CEES Unit include printing of leaflets, booklet, posters, etc., design and facilitation of the training-of-trainers, planning and coordination of national farmer training programs in conjunction with regional offices, and sensitization programs. The CEES Unit, which has 829 extension staff, provides extension support to the farmers through six Regional Directorates and nine specialized technical Service Units covering different technical disciplines such as agricultural inputs, soil and water management, food and nutrition management, horticulture, and training, monitoring and evaluation. According to the CEES Unit, 75,525 rural households were covered by extension activities in 2010.

National Agricultural Research Institute 
The mandate of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) is agricultural research. It is not involved in providing extension services to the farmers. However, NARI plays an important role for extension purposes in terms of technology adaptation and generation, technology transfer, advice on technical subject-matter, and serving on extension related bodies. NARI transfers and disseminates technologies in collaboration with stakeholders. The methods include Farmer Field School, group methods such as field days, field trips, participatory learning and action research, farmers’ training, and individual methods such as method demonstration. Also, NARI organizes occasional meetings with stakeholders to learn about technology related responses from the farmers. According to NARI, the constraints in technology transfer include limited financing; inadequate coordination between researchers and stakeholders; insufficient trained personnel; a lack of demand-based research; lack of staff commitment; and low extension agent/farmer ratio.

Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources
The Ministry of Fisheries provides extension services in fishery and aquaculture through its Department of Fisheries. In 2010, the Department had 33 extension staff, covering about 25,000 rural households.

Ministry of Forestry and Environment
The Ministry of Forestry and Environment provides public extension advice through its Department of Forestry. The Department had 181 extension staff in 2010, benefiting about 30,000 rural families.

University of the Gambiahttp://www.unigambia.gm/
The University of the Gambia, founded in 1999, is the only university in Gambia. It is located in Sere Kunda, which is the largest city in the country. The university comprises several schools including the School of Agriculture and Environment Sciences. The academic program in agricultural and environmental sciences is limited to Bachelor’s degree. The university does not provide extension services per se to the farmers, but its academic programs in agricultural sciences are of importance to the extension organization. 

Non-Public Institutions 

Private sector

The Gambia Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) www.gambiachamber.com promotes business in several sectors including agriculture. Several donor-funded projects such as the Food and Agriculture Sector Development Project (FASDEP) funded by the African Development Bank, have provided assistance to Gambia in commercializing agriculture. The export of Gambian fruits and vegetables (chilies, green beans, aubergines, mangoes, papaya, limes) has been growing since 1994 with the United Kingdom being the main export market for the produce.

The Gambia has a number of commercial farms such as the following:

• Kafuta Farm (208-hectare farm located near Kafuta Village; grows maize, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, melons, lettuce, onions, etc.; owned by M.A. Kharafi & Sons)
• Barra Shrimp Farm Limited (located near Banjul; a fish processing factory involved in large scale rearing of freshly IQF blast frozen white shrimps and tiger shrimps for export)
• Comafrique Gambia Limited (located in Fajara; operates a farming plantation at Faraba where raw cashew nuts for export are grown; also promotes and supplies fresh garden vegetables, sesame seed, etc.)
• Gambia Horticultural Enterprises (has been in agricultural export business for 18 plus years; owns 247 acres of farmland; deals in off-season tropical fruits, crops and vegetables)
• GreenGold Ltd. (located near Banjul; a poultry breeder; distributor of fresh eggs; also sells chicken feed)
• Kombo Farms (located near Banjul; a beef and dairy producer; operates a meat processing factory; aims at producing premium quality milk products and beef for local consumption)
• Radville Farms Gambia Ltd. (located near Banjul; exports 1,500 tons of vegetables and about 700 tons of mangoes yearly; also deals in okra, French beans, citrus fruits and butternut squash)

There are several private companies in Gambia, engaged in a variety of agricultural enterprises. A few examples are:

• Agro Vet Company Ltd. (located in Banjul; import and export of animal health products, livestock feed, and animal husbandry equipment)
• Care for Natural (producer and distributor of dairy products and garden vegetables for the local market)
• CGC Agricultural Services Ltd. (located in Banjul; a water well construction company)
• Gambia Agricultural Marketing Co. Ltd (located in Fajara and Banjul; a joint private-public company engaged in purchase of groundnuts from local farmers)
• Gambia Horticultural Enterprises (deals in farm inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and also exports fruits and vegetables)
• Nyambai Agricultural Inputs (located in Brikama; markets tomatoes, pawpaw, cucumber, melons, and some other vegetables and fruits)
• Yams Agricultural Enterprises Ltd. (located in Serrekunda; sells farming tools and implements)

There is no private company in Gambia that provides extension services to the farmers on regular basis. It is assumed, however, that the private companies do provide limited extension advice while selling their farm equipment and inputs, or while buying specific raw produce from the farmers for processing and export purposes. 

Non-governmental organisations

There are at least 200 NGOs in Gambia. A list of 180 civil society organisations (CSOs), which are engaged in a variety of activities such as advocacy, and humanitarian and development works, may be seen at the website http://www.accessgambia.coml. Many NGOs are local while some are foreign with offices in the Gambia. Although none of the NGOs provides extension services to the farmers on regular basis yet many of them are involved in nationally or externally funded programs and projects related to agricultural, environmental and rural community development. As such, while working in rural areas at grassroots level, they are bound to engage in extension and extension-related activities. Examples of some of the relevant NGOs active in Gambia are presented below.

• TANGO Gambia
  Established in 1983; based in Serrekunda; comprises about 75 member NGOs engaged at village level in areas such as education, health, capacity building, livelihoods and agriculture.
• Njawara Agricultural Training Center
  Founded in 1990; head office located in Njawara Village where physical infrastructure and fields provide good facilities for training in ecological agricultural methods, integration of farmland into forest trees, and sustainable management of natural resources; has been working in collaboration with several Gambian and international partner organizations and donors
• Methodist Mission Agricultural Program, Gambia (MAAP)
  Founded in Banjul in 1974 as a farming-based NGO to promote revenue generation activities, environmental protection and food security development with eventual goal of improving the standard of living for rural communities
• Gambia Rural Development Agency (GARDA)
  Began activities in 1990; based in the Lower River Region in Jarra West; engaged in the areas of developing village agriculture, local business development, crafts, fair-trade bee-keeping, and environment
• Agency for the Development of Women & Children, Gambia (ADWAC)
  Established in 1996; the main objective is capacity building of women and children to overcome poverty in their agricultural communities by utilizing a multi-sector approach
• Agency for Village Support, Gambia (AVISU)
  Located in the Central River Region, in the town of Kaur in Lower Saloum; aims at advocating and working for the vulnerable and poor people with particular focus on the welfare of marginalized Gambian women in rural communities; has done agricultural extension support work in collaboration with other NGOs engaged in rural development, agriculture, food, and credit unions
• Africa Organics, Gambia
  Operates Home Farm Project as an agricultural charity, which was established with the objective of assisting rural farming villages to produce sustainable, organic crops, and stimulating local employment; the project created four market garden projects for young men in Kiang West area
• GambiaStartUp
  A Norwegian charitable foundation established in 2008, with the mission to improve livelihoods in Gambia through education in agricultural innovation, environmental protection, and entrepreneurship; operates two projects namely MyFarm and MyProduce, both serving as practical training platforms for children, youth and farmers through an “educational journey from seed to business” .

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

The Gambia has quite a number of farmers-based organizations including associations and cooperatives. Almost all of them strive for the benefit of their members. A questionnaire filled out by the Gambian officials for a survey, conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2010, shows the total number of extension staff in the producer organizations as 1,700, covering agriculture and forestry. However, it is possible that this number includes staff like forest rangers that are not really field extension staff. Although no specific information is readily available on extension activities of the farmers’ associations yet it is known that all the associations are keen to get maximum benefit from the public agricultural extension system. Names of a few farmers-based organizations are given below as examples:

• National Coordinating Organization of Farmer Associations (NACOFAG)
• National Women Farmers Association (NAWFA)
• Association of Farmers Educators and Traders (AFET)
• Fish Farmers Association for Sustainable Aquaculture
• TRY Oyster Women’s Association
• Federation of Gambian Cashew Farmers Association
• National Rice Farmers Association
• Gambia Farmers Association
• Women’s Fields in Gambia (an agricultural cooperative)
• National Association of Cooperative Credit Unions of the Gambia (NACCUG)

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Gambia. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

Training

Training Options for Extension Professionals

The Gambia has only the following two institutions of higher learning:

• University of the Gambia: Pre-service education in agricultural and environmental sciences may be pursued for Bachelor degree.
• The Gambia College: Its School of Agriculture offers non-degree certificate programs on its Brikama campus. Persons who are interested in junior field positions in agriculture may enroll at the college.

For in-service training of extension professionals, the following options are available in Gambia. Some of the institutions offer short training programs for farmers, rural youth and extension workers on regular basis while for others, special arrangements will have to be made, depending on the nature of the training needs.

• University of the Gambia.
• Agricultural Rural Farmer Training Center, located in Jenoi, established with the assistance of the Indonesian Government under the South-South Cooperation Program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (training in rice cultivation using Farmer Field School methodology).
• Chamen Agricultural Training Center.
• Njawara Agricultural Training Center (training in agro-forestry and sustainable natural resources management.
• YBK Training and Demonstration Center (for livestock training).
• Rural Vocational Training Center, located in Mansakonko.
• The Gambia College.
• Donor-funded projects in agricultural and rural development, which have component of national capacity building .

A list of 103 training institutions in the Gambia, covering all types of subjects including agriculture and vocational training may be found at the following website: http://www.nta.gm/PDF%20files/9.1-Training 

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ICT

Info-Mediaries and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Agriculture and Extension

Although there is no evidence as yet of ICT being used in the agricultural sector, or agricultural extension in particular, the Department of State for Communications and Information Technology (DoSCIT) in Gambia has made significant progress in creating conducive environment through the development of policy, plans and strategies, and some necessary infrastructure. According to the World Bank, in 2012, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Gambia was 83.63. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 12.44.

The use of ICT in education in Gambia is being introduced under the WiderNet Project. The Gambia College has been provided with computers and computer labs by the World Bank (under the Third Education’s Sector Project) and the African Development Bank.

The following four institutions are considered as the main ICT actors in the Gambia:

1. Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS).
2. Gambia Telecommunications Company, Ltd. (GAMTEL).
3. Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS).
4. Postal Services (GamPost).

An Information Technology Association of the Gambia (ITAG) www.itag.gm also exists. The mission of ITAG is to promote the growth, development and use of ICT through collaboration and partnership with relevant stakeholders, by providing a platform to ensure advocacy and accessibility, of ICT services for the socio-economic development of Gambia.

Resources

Resources and References

African Development Fund. 2007. The Gambia: Lowland Agricultural Development Program (LADEP); Program Completion Report.

Brown, D., M. Howes, K. Hussein, C. Longley and K. Swindell. 2002. Participatory Methodologies and Participatory Practices: Assessing PRA Use in The Gambia. AgREN Network Paper No. 124.

Darboe, M., A. Secka and S.E. Sanyang. 2012. A study on the production and marketing of dairy products: A case study of Kombo North Cooperative Society of West Coast Region. Advances in Biological Research 6 (4): 146-150, 2012.

Ebrima, WKG, Camara and M.B. Ceesay. 2010. Consultancy Report on the Gambia, prepared for the Investment Assessment Project. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

IFAD. 2005. Republic of The Gambia: Rural Finance and Community Initiatives Project; Interim Evaluation. Report No. 1623-GM.

International Cooperation and Development Fund (no date). ROC [Republic of China, meaning Taiwan] transfers agricultural technology to The Gambia. A report published in the International Cooperation and Development, Pp. 13-22.

Liverpool, S. and C. Missen (no date; probably 2002). ICT and Education in The Gambia

Manneh, F. (no date). National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) – The Gambia. PowerPoint presentation.

Njie, P.Y. (no date; probably 2004). Current Status of ICT in The Gambia: Taking Advantage of the New Digital Opportunities. PowerPoint presentation; Information Technology Association of the Gambia (ITAG).

Republic of The Gambia (no date; probably 2002). Department of Agricultural Services: Profile of Achievements 1994-2001

Republic of The Gambia (2010). Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan (GNAIP) 2011-2015.

Republic of The Gambia (no date). The Gambia: Review of Ongoing Agricultural Development Efforts.

Sanyang, S.E., T. Kao and W. Huang. 2009. The impact of agricultural technology transfer to women vegetable production and marketing groups in the Gambia. World Journal of Agricultural Sciences 5 (2): 169-179, 2009.

Stads, G.J., F.S. Fatajo and E.M. Kunjo. 2004. The Gambia: Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI). ASTI Country Brief No. 25. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Wilson, M.C. 1938. Foreign Agricultural Extension Activities. Extension Service Circular 283. Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, USA (page 16)

More

Federation of Farmers and Producer Organizations:

CADRE DE CONCERTATION DES ORGANISATIONS PAYSANNES EN GAMBIE

La plate-forme regroupe: agriculteurs, horticulteurs, éleveurs, producteurs d’anacarde, apiculteurs, pêcheurs et des associations de femmes

Depuis la réunion de la Convention à Bamako, l’AFET a mobilisé un budget de 18.000 Dalassis pour : 
 Sensibiliser et informer les organisations paysannes dans toutes les régions 
 Constituer la Plate-forme des organisations paysannes dans toutes les régions 
 Constituer la plate-forme des Organisations paysannes en Gambie au niveau des départements, des régions et au niveau national.

La mission du CESR s’est rendue en Gambie et a rencontré les organisations paysannes de toutes les régions. A la suite de cette mission, le REFESA a rejoint la plate-forme du ROPPA. Cette mission a par ailleurs été fort appréciée par les autorités qui sont maintenant bien informées.

courriel : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: http://www.roppa.info/spip.php?rubrique52&lang=fr

Related Resources

ASTI Agricultural Research and Developmentinvestments and capacity in the Gambia