CONCERN UNIVERSAL

A Miracle of Marketing – The Gambia

How CU is helping local growers to beat the imports…

In The Gambia vegetable growers follow the conventions of subsistence farming, using traditional methods to farm traditional crops. The typical result is poor yields, poor quality and seasonal flooding, with growers often completely unable to sell. But at the same time as tonnes of excess produce is going to waste, the market is being pumped full of imported produce from Holland, France, Las Palmas and Senegal – all destined for consumption within the country's thriving tourist industry.

Concern Universal's response? To join forces with the UK 's leading organic fruit producer, Haygrove , and create Gambia is Good (GiG), a pro-poor fresh produce marketing company. By servicing hotels, restaurants and supermarkets directly, GiG has been able to get a firm grip on their needs, and translate these into detailed production plans for growers. Hoteliers, long frustrated by inconsistent supplies, have welcomed the initiative with open arms and are now buying 20 tonnes of produce per month during the season.

Close coordination with donor-funded horticultural training programs and local partners has allowed GiG to mobilise over 800 farmers, and replace over-produced items with in-demand ones like courgettes, iceberg lettuce and broccoli – with selling prices as much as 10 times higher. In the last year, GiG has diverted £34,000 of sales away from the importers and into the hands of local, small-scale producers. A further innovation saw GiG join hands with The Travel Foundation to launch their own farmyard, which is used to demonstrate best-practice and to generate additional revenue through production and tourism.

As the majority of goods are produced locally using specially selected varieties, GiG is able to deliver a fresher, better quality and cheaper product to market – and the hotels and just as delighted as the growers. The overall result is an innovative and holistic project which is going a long way to achieving its ultimate goal – sustainable and improved rural livelihoods in The Gambia.

Case Study 1

THE STORY OF NDEMBAN JAPICHUM COMMUNITY GARDEN (This story was told by Fatou Manneh, the Farm Manager, in Jola and translated into English) Fatou Manneh works in the Ndmeban Japichum community garden in The Gambia's Western Division. The garden involves 120 women and 4 men. Initially, only traditional items and varieties were grown through traditional practices. Marketing was a big problem as a result of the lack of information we had as well as middlemen taking the major part of our earnings. Since 2005 we have sold everything to Gambia is Good and have also received a lot of training on production and the use of hybrid varieties'. With CU's help, year round production became a reality. This contributed to an increase of our incomes through more crops but also better prices during rainy season whereby vegetable cropping was considered impossible before. In particular, nursery issues are now a thing of the past thanks to the permanent training carried out in our garden'. ‘Here is the data from our book keeping regarding our earnings for 1 tomato crop:   Seeds fertilizers Chemicals Total expenses Total turnover Profit Dalasi 10,612 44 94 10,750 62,924 52,174 USD 379 1.57 3.35 384 2,247 1,863 Case Study 2 OUSMAN WATARA'S STORY IN HORTICULTURE Ousman Watara is a young graduate from Njawara Agricultural Training Center who lives in the village of Daru Fodeba in The Gambia's North Bank Division. He used to teach in a primary school with a net salary of D600 (£12) per month. This low salary could not allow him to take care of himself and his family. As a result, he decided to leave this job and go for gardening. He joined NATC for 9 months-training in horticulture and then started growing for Gambia is Good . With the help of production training, input procurement and marketing he has been able to raise himself to an average monthly earning of D7,500 (£150), which is more than 10 times his initial salary.   Contact: Kelly Taboure Telephone: +220 7739673 Email: ksmeets2001@yahoo.com