The Daily Observer (Banjul)
28 April 2008
Gambians were once again stunned by the resilience of a man that never seizes to amaze his people. President Jammeh's latest "spot check" of important institutions came when it was least expected.
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Landownership in Gambia should not be change by government intervention. Farmers owns their land so it becomes their constitutional right to use it as deem fit to them.What our government can do is to create incentives to encourage farmers back to land. Government can do this by first guaranteeing the purchase of farm product at good bargaining price after the seasoning is over. Second step in addressing this important issue is provide subsidies to farmers by way of cash advancement, farm equipments, farm fertilizers etc at little or no cost. Finally we must control inflation that affect farmers at indebt level than urban settlers. We must also address communication issue example telephone communication and efficient super highway all of which are gear towards addressing our agricultural issues or the government theme "Agriculture". Unless these issues are address we as a nation is not ready to seriously addresss problems of farming in our country. I thank President Jammeh for the initiative but I urge him to do more pass beyond Gambian politics.