Women Vegetable Farmers in LRR Struggle for Fair Prices and Market Access

Written by: Alieu Jallow

Women vegetable farmers across the Lower River Region are still battling market pressures that cut into their earnings, even as production rises. Unstable prices and limited access to reliable markets remain at the centre of their concerns, leaving many unable to sell their produce at fair value.

The issue came into focus during a Technical Advisory Committee meeting in Mansa Konko, supported by ActionAid International The Gambia. The forum brought together government officials, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to review progress, confront key challenges, and coordinate development priorities. Discussions also turned to improving accountability, strengthening oversight, and narrowing the gap between duty bearers and rights holders.

In an interview with The Fatu Network, the Regional Agricultural Director for the Lower River Region, Lamin Sanyang, acknowledged the scale of the problem, saying many women gardeners still lack dependable markets.

Mr. Sanyang said his department is carrying out a market strategy mapping exercise targeting women vegetable farmers across the region. He explained that the effort aims to tackle long-standing access issues and strengthen the value chain.

“The issue of marketing we are aware and this stems from production planning because usually what we tell the farmers is, for them to plan their production so that they will do what we call staggering first. When you stagger, that means your produce will kind of mature at different stages. So you realize that at the market there would not be any glut at the market because you will supply by bits at the market and in that way, you know, there would be your produce would be highly marketable,” he outlined.

Beyond production planning, Mr. Sanyang pointed to ongoing investments by the Ministry of Agriculture, including cold storage facilities under the ROOTS Project. These facilities are expected to reduce post-harvest losses and give farmers more control over when to sell.

“we have 2 cold storage facilities, one at behind the Soma market and the other one at the Kwenella Lumo. You realize that these cool storage facilities would be like a holding center, especially for our tomatoes. When they are ripe, you can take them to the cold storage facility. You can harvest them, take them to the cold storage facility and the country buyers, we call locally the ‘njander Jaye’, can come to the cold storage facility and buy and take it to the market and sell, that is also a moderate thing,” he outlined.

On onion production, one of the country’s most widely grown crops, Mr. Sanyang described efforts to manage imports in line with local output. He said field assessments are carried out during harvest periods to determine supply and guide government decisions.

“ During the onion harvesting period, we try to go around to assist and quantify how much onion would be in the country, and how long would that be able to take us? So we would calculate that and when we do that, then the government will put an embargo so that businessmen who are importing onion in the country will stop the importation of onion until the onion in the country is exhausted so these are some of the strategies that we are using to improve marketing of vegetables in the country,” he stated.

Even with these measures, many farmers remain frustrated. Imported onions continue to push down prices, making it harder for local growers to turn a profit.

Mr. Sanyang said the Ministry is directly involved in price discussions between farmers and importers, with a focus on protecting producers from unfair deals.

“ We take a lead role in this negotiation because our prime interest is the farmers. We want to make sure that our farmers are treated well in terms of pricing. We make sure our farmers are not exploited by these country buyers that is why, in fact, we are doing the arrangement with the importers. In fact, we do the initial communication with the importers and when we are deciding on the price, we would make sure us or our representatives will also be on the ground when the price is being discussed and we make sure there will be a win-win situation. The farmers would not be exploited,” he stated.

Despite ongoing efforts, women vegetable farmers in the Lower River Region are still waiting for a system that works in their favour, one that secures fair prices, cuts losses, and gives them a stronger foothold in the market.