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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
 Posted - 09 May 2008 : 13:18:28
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A clip from H.E's. speech at Farrafeni North Bank.
Reiterating his back to the land call, the president called for attitudinal change among Gambians in order to achieve food self-sufficiency. Further buttressing on this clarion call, the president talked about the current global food crises and the increasing cost of rice.
He observed that “if we had gone back to the land over the years and did not depend on imported food, the rice issue would not have been what it is today. All this major diseases are due to what we eat and we don’t know where they come from. Let’s eat what we produce,” he emphasised, while thanking the people of the area for massively voting for the APRC in the elections.
The president told the gathering that he would never make false promises after swearing to Allah, the Almighty. “I am not here to disappoint you. I will never disappoint The Gambia”, the president told cheering supporters
If you want to you can read the full report from the Observer here:
http://observer.gm/africa/article/2008/5/8/the-answer-food-self-sufficiency-president-jammeh-tells-gambians
Lets hope that these words are turned into action by the authorities with all the people who can really do something about the food problem putting their work and minds into producing foodstuffs for The Gambia
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 09 May 2008 13:26:07 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 15:06:21
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Yes why not,let the soldiers work for their wages when they are not on active service and help everybody,good idea.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 15:17:25
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| There is need for attitudinal change in our soceity where farmers had for long been given snide descriptions by others not involved in the practice. Baadola , beykat,etc as examples. i was up river in the early seventies and among a group of officials distributing cash credit to farmers . It was at karantaba Sami, and one boy walked up to me and in admiration spoke to me about his desire to go to the Capital Banjul and be like me. I had a chat with him but tactlessly I suggested that it was better for him to either finish his schooling or do well on his farms and thus get good money. he retorted that he too is a citizen just like me and therefore has the right to come to the capital and try his chance at getting a (good living). To him I was doing fine and that it was cheeky of me to suggest that is stay where he was born etc.The respect that farmers deserve was wanting and it inevitably translated to some poor governance in relation to their welfare, prowess and the resultant poor output in that domain.The provider of food was spurned and his job was not respected , can we then see why so many youth migrated to urban areas in search of blue collar jobs or non farm related jobs , to the detriment of agricultural advancement. |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 15:40:25
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Quote from kaanibaa's posting
"To him I was doing fine and that it was cheeky of me to suggest that is stay where he was born etc.The respect that farmers deserve was wanting and it inevitably translated to some poor governance in relation to their welfare, prowess and the resultant poor output in that domain.The provider of food was spurned and his job was not respected , can we then see why so many youth migrated to urban areas in search of blue collar jobs or non farm related jobs , to the detriment of agricultural advancement."
The same thing happens all over the world those from the country come to the towns where more is happening and the place is alive money is more available,Rural people everywhere have a hard time,which is not recognised by those enjoying everything at the centre,but when it comes to food shortages things change those living in a rural setting are able to cope better than those in the town because they have experience of hard times and prepare for them if they can.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 18:23:42
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A view from The Point
The Rice Issue
gambia Thursday, May 08, 2008
Rice is the staple food of The Gambia, hence signs of an impending scarcity of this precious grain would surely rock the nation and rattle nerves.
Apart from the skyrocketing of the price of rice that hit the country in recent days, rumours have been rife in town that in the not too distant future there would be scarcity of rice which will result in many families hoarding the commodity for fear of a possible crisis.
The poor who cannot afford to reserve abundant stocks are left in the mercy of God.
Of course it is no surprise that President Jammeh sent a stern warning to businessmen to desist from selling rice at D1, 000 or risk going to jail. However in a Press Release carried in our today’s edition, two leading importers of rice Shyben A. Madi & Sons and George Banna Ltd have assured the general public that there is no need for panic as there are adequate stocks of the cereal in the country and more quantities were expected.
Not only would the duo assure sufficient stocks, they also have assured the general public that they will spare no efforts to keep prices at the lowest possible levels. While we commend the two business entities for their invaluable support to the Gambian people, we would however advise that people change their attitude of cooking more food than can be possibly consumed by the family, and thereby creating a lot of unnecessary wastage.
‘Food is an important part of a balanced diet’
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 18:51:33
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Thats interesting Toubab. Link appended under http://thepoint.gm/article/2008/5/8/the-rice-issue
We depend on eating RICE DAILY TOO MUCH. With sky rocketing prices on feeding & other basic comodities, fuel, utility bills (electricity/water), phone bills, school fees etc I wonder how CIVIL SERVANTS ARE SURVING ON AVERAGE SALARY (MY GENEROUS OFFER OF) D2,000.
For. e.g I need the following BUDGET:-
D100/D200 on family breakfast & pocket money
D300/D500 on family lunch & Dinner
D400/D700 To spend per day
D12,000/D21,000 To spend for a month (x30 days)
Where should they get the money to augment SALARY (TAKE HOME PAY) & PAY FOR OTHER BILLS 
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Edited by - kobo on 09 May 2008 19:03:40 |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 19:41:00
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Perhaps other posters can shed some light on the information supplied by KOBO.One thing that he didn#t mention was rent.
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 09 May 2008 21:33:43 |
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kaanibaa
United Kingdom
1169 Posts |
Posted - 09 May 2008 : 23:23:43
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| I take that as excuseable hence many people live in extended family homes and are spared the horrors of the landlord coming after rent money, having said that we still have many others depending on rented accommodation so the added cost count there. I did talk about wastage of food which was a habit of the past; I hope. The current state of affairs concerning food self self sufficiency is very scary, but i do believe that as we face problems arising out of this crises individual efforts would be made to change those habits that tend to lead to wastage, and with many governments and NGOs focusing on the problems and trying to sort out the short term problems and investigating long term solutions I hope that we can surmount the problems. What is clear though is that in The gambia like in many other third world countries remuneration ; salaries and other income are not commensurate with the daily costs of living, this opens many of the citizenry to hazzards of starvation and its accompanying effects. I take it that governments find it very difficult to keep the pay rates in tandem with rates of inflation for various reasons , among which you will find poor economic/fiscal planning, corruption or simple lack of the financial wherewithall in other cases.The onus though is on those governments concerned to make sure that proper arrangements are in place to face any eventuality and failure to do so may be construed as gross irresponsility on their part. I do not think it fair to say that people in the Gambia are generally lazy so the government is okay to say we advised you to go back to land and farm ,that you refused to heed our advice so now that there is food crises we don't care; Not every Gambian is a farmer others do equally important jobs too and together we compliment the national effort of self sufficiency and independence. |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 14 May 2008 : 00:20:33
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This from Foroyaa,a small clip.
The People Speak and the President Responds –Dialogue with the People
The people explained to the President that the bag of rice is over 800 dalasis and is rising. They requested for government intervention to halt the increase in prices. The president said that he has agreed with the vendors that the prices will be kept below 900 dalasis up to the end of the rainy season, but he will not try to exercise any influence to maintain the prices if people fail to go and farm, even if the prices rise to the thousands.
Follow the link to read all that H.E. said:
http://www.foroyaa.gm/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1553
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 14 May 2008 00:23:11 |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 14 May 2008 : 00:51:05
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Sierra Leone: Price of Rice to Reduce Soon
General Manager Fulladu East Agric project Friday said his organization has successfully embarked on a large scale of mechanised boliland rice cultivation at Tormabum in the Bonthe district; a development that the high cost of rice will soon reduce.
BUT NOT ALL IS WELL THE LAST PARAGRAPH READS:
Not all is well with the project. We need more tractors, seed rice and mobility. We will be grateful if government could come to our aid," he said.
This is from The Concord Paper in Sierra Leone
Here is the link:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805130677.html |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 14 May 2008 00:57:06 |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
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inez
279 Posts |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2008 : 01:53:49
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Greetings Everyone,
World Rice prices are set to rise by 30%. The cost of food globally is going up. As we are all experiencing this phenomena all over the world. It is important for countries to start looking internally for solutions. As for Gambia Food Sufficiency must come to the top of the Agenda. It makes no sense to rely on others to grow your staple foods. Gambians have been complaining about the cost of food the solution is to grow your own food buy Gambian. Gambians have been complaining about no work get working and plough the field. Some people feel they are too high and mighty to get their hands dirty. Now hands which get dirty from soil food their reward will result in more food on the table and more money in their pockets. After all you reap what you sow. If you don't sow you go hungry.
Peace
Sister Omega. |
Peace
Sister Omega |
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Lily
United Kingdom
422 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2008 : 09:40:05
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And what of the people who have no land to grow their food? They must sit and wait - and wait - and starve ....
If the answer is to wait until the governments prioritise food growing above everything else, then people will wait a long time .. |
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