Africa-Press – Gambia. This is a familiar story of corruption, waste, increased indebtedness, state capture and missed opportunity for improving food security.
In 2017, the AfDB approved a project for The Gambia called the Agriculture Value Chains Development Project (AVCDP). The project was a loan of over $7 million (equivalent to about D500 million today). The goal of the project was food security, centered on rice farming communities in CRR and URR.
Among the activities the project was supposed to develop was lowland rice cultivation and equipping those farmlands with irrigation. The goal was to ensure rice cultivation during both the rainy season and the dry season. The project was also expected to support the livestock sector (poultry and small ruminants). The total areas of land to be developed by the project was 500 ha in the two regions (CRR and URR).
This is the rice project for communiities in URR and CRR
The project never achieved its objectives. What instead happened can best be described as a disaster. One of the areas chosen was the rice fields in Wulli West near Limbambulu. The rice field in this location was about 50 hectares (that is, an area of 1 km by 500 meters). This was a rice field where people were cultivating the whole 50 hectares during the Jawara regime.
The implementation of the project was supposed to be a 5-year period. The last disbursement of the loan happened in 2020.
When the project came, the contract for the land development and equipping it with irrigation was given to a contractor that was politically connected to the government. This contractor had no expertise in agricultural land development, particularly for lowland rice cultivation.
The Limbambulu rice field is a scene of disaster today. What I am about to describe is from my own visit to the rice field and from discussions of the villages who were affected by the poor implementation of the project.
Most of the 50ha of rice field today in Limbambulu cannot support any rice cultivation today due to the poor land tilling by the contractor. It was obvious that the company that was contracted to do the work did not have the required expertise. Basic leveling of the land was not achieved, which is critical for rice cultivation. As a result, most sections of the rice field have too much water standing for any rice cultivation during the rainy season.
Rice cultivation during the dry season is impossible. The quality of the work for required infrastructure for the irrigation was just as badly done. The canals were constructed so poorly that they cannot carry any water. In fact, there are cracks every few meters, indicating that the amount of cement used was far lower than needed.
The building that was supposed to house the pumping machine to carry water from the river to the rice field was never completed. Some of the iron rods for the pillars of the structure are still without concrete.
The constructed levees or dykes have now become death traps for livestock. Almost every week, the residents of the village would find an animal that is trapped and drown in the dyke.
Of the 50 hectares of land that was supposed to be developed, those villages in Wulli West are now cultivating no more than 10 hectares of land in that rice field. This was far less than what they were cultivating before the project arrived. In other words, the bad implementation of the project made them worse off.
Who is the contractor that was behind this work? It is Abubakary Jawara of GACH, a close associate of the president. This is the state capture angle of the story. This is not the first time Abubakary Jawara has been involved in projects that benefitted him but come at a significant cost to the country.
The Gambia is still obligated to repay the loan of D500 million for the next 30 years. So, when you hear about the national debt going up, you should know this is the kind of actions that are contributing towards it. Current and future generations are being saddled with debt for which almost no benefit has been received by the average Gambian. And no one faced any consequences for this debacle.
A government that wastes millions of dalasi mean for agricultural development cannot bring food security in the country. A government that saddles the country with millions in debt that bring virtually no benefit cannot take the country forward. A government where friends of the president can be paid millions while poor farmers suffer will only entrench corruption. This is not the kind of government that the country needs.
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