The agricultural extension project is intended to mitigate food insecurity in the developing West African nation.
Special to The Truth
ILLIASSA, North Bank Region, Gambia – For over two decades, Saffiatou
Jammeh has worked the soil in a community garden near her village to grow
onions and other vegetables to feed and earn money for her family.
“I have been working here 22 years. When we were coming here in those
early days, we even had to cut the trees because it was bushy,” Jammeh
said through an interpreter. “In the past, one of our challenges was
fencing around this garden to keep animals out. We had to go into the thick
bush and cut some wood to make a fence.”
As the years went on, yields from the garden diminished because of
insufficient water. Wells dried up, and the equipment used to draw water
was worn out. Approximately 400 women who tended plots in the garden saw
their livelihoods jeopardized by the conditions.
“In the past, my gardening was very bad,” Jammeh said. “My husband
asked me to stop because the production was limited because of the scarcity
of water. My husband asked me to stop working because the benefit wasn’t
coming.”
Now, thanks to a project led by South Carolina State University’s Public
Service and Agriculture division (SC State PSA), the community garden has
an abundant supply of water.
Funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture via the 1890 Universities
Foundation Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense (GFSD)
at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the new solar-powered well and
pump system delivers water to 49 new and renovated concrete reservoirs
throughout the fields. The system’s tanks have a 30,000-liter capacity.
SC State also provided buckets and watering cans for water distribution.
“When we had limited water, I used to have about six bags of onions from
my garden, but now with this water supply system here, I can have double or
even more because of the availability of water anytime we need it,”
Jammeh said. “So, I will have more and more yield with more onions to
sell.
“These days, I come twice a day,” she said. “I can come in the
morning because there is abundant water, and I even come back in the
evening and then I can go back and sleep. It has been transformative and
has eased my life and constraints these days.”
The water system resulted from the GFSD’s 2021 needs assessment of
agriculture sector and food supply chain systems in several African
countries.
With SC State PSA’s Dr. Lamin Drammeh, the grant’s principal
investigator, coordinating the efforts, the university entered a
partnership with Gambia’s National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI)
and the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr. Joshua Idassi, SC State PSA’s state
program leader for sustainable agriculture and natural resources, worked
alongside Drammeh, Gambian officials and the farmers to design and
implement the project.
Fast facts about the project:
* Title: Cultivating Productivity and Resilience to Mitigate Food
Insecurity in the Gambia.
* Beneficiary: Illiassa Women Garden Kafo, Gambia
* 10 new concrete reservoirs.
* 39 renovated reservoirs.
* 30,000-liter water tank system.
* 12 units of solar power system (385W/32V) per unit.
* Water network to the reservoirs.
* Water meter system.
Global impact and benefits for SC State researchers and students
The garden project represents the first of a series of ongoing initiatives
between SC State and the West African nation, which also include an
academic and research exchange with the University of the Gambia. SC State
President Alexander Conyers described the international relationship as
fulfilling the university’s global outreach objectives and its
educational commitment to SC State students.
“When we help others, we help ourselves,” Conyers said. “When we
teach others, we teach ourselves. These relationships and experiences are
key for our students as they compete on a global scale. It’s essential
for SC State to be involved globally.”
Dr. Louis Whitesides, SC State’s vice president for PSA and research,
described how the impact of the university applying its knowledge around
the world. He noted that SC State’s next Gambian venture will be the
introduction of a new goat species in hopes of mitigating nutritional
deficiencies causing stunting in children.
“As a global citizen, SC State University has a responsibility to invest
in communities around the world who would benefit from our expertise,
particularly in agriculture education, research and outreach,” he said.
“SC State Public Service and Agriculture leads this work on behalf of the
university by leveraging its resources, technical expertise and
research-based knowledge to transform communities, not just in South
Carolina but globally.
“For Gambia, much like the U.S., agriculture is the leading economic
industry,” Whitesides said. “The work we are doing in the country will
advance agriculture innovation and practices that will produce far-reaching
outcomes that will impact Gambians for countless generations.”
A Jubilant Celebration
On Aug. 6, Conyers, Whitesides and Drammeh joined Gambian officials and SC
State PSA scientists in handing over the water system to the garden’s
farmers. The event was a joyous occasion filled with song, dance and a
traditional Gambian feast.
“Ladies, South Carolina State University heard your request, and this is
for you,” Conyers said as he addressed the farmers with an interpreter.
“You deserve this and more.
The SC State president drew parallels between the agricultural economies of
South Carolina and the West African nation, including the production of
sweet potatoes and peanuts.
“What we are doing for you today is what we do for the citizens of South
Carolina, and that is to innovate, educate and elevate,” he said. “When
we empower women in the Gambia, we empower the entire Gambia, just like
when we empower women in the United States, we empower the entire country.
When we empower women, women help us empower children, and those children
help us empower the entire community.
“We continue to pray for your blessings, and I ask that you pray for
South Carolina State University so that we can continue to do this type of
work throughout the world,” Conyers said. “Many blessings to you, your
family and this great country.”
A Thankful Nation
Conyers was joined on the program by Gambian and village dignitaries,
including North Bank Region Gov. Ebrima KS Dampha and Minister of
Agriculture Demba Sabally, who both expressed gratitude for SC State’s
intervention at the garden and their hopes for the relationship’s
sustainability.
We are very grateful for this. Your works here will transform lives,”
Sabally said, “It will transform livelihoods and make these women
increase their income, increase their access to health and increase their
access to education.
“NARI being under the Ministry of Agriculture will continue to work with
these women to move this garden to a better height,” he said.
Dr. Demba B. Jallow, NARI’s director general, described the water
project’s domino effect for the people of Illiassa.
“Horticultural needs a lot of work, but if they do not have access to
water, the garden is there, but nothing will grow in it,” Jallow said
“About 400 women are working this garden, so this will help them a lot.
They grow all kinds of vegetables, but the major ones are tomatoes, onions,
okra and garden eggs (a small type of eggplant).
“For this community, it will create a source of income for them,
especially for young people,” he said. “Young people have some beds
here where they can produce and sell for themselves. This area is known for
having some migrating youths, especially to Europe and the U.S. If they
have something like this, it will keep them home with their families.”
In that same vein, Jallow lauded Drammeh, a native of Gambia, for his
leadership in connecting his native country to his adopted home in the U.S.
“This is what is expected of every Gambian,” Jallow said. “If you go
abroad, you bring back something that will uplift the living conditions of
your people. This is really commendable on his side. Dr. Drammeh can stay
in America and have everything, but he came back home and contributed to
the development of his country.”
Further Needs and Next Steps
While access to water was the farmers’ most pressing necessity, Jallow
said they still have unmet needs to tend to their fields and protect their
crops. He said NARI’s top priority is a storage facility to prevent crops
from wilting before the farmers can get them to market.
“Most of the vegetables are highly perishable – tomatoes for example.
They need a place they can store the vegetable and get what they can to
market,” he said. “If they do not have a place to store these things,
it means their hard work can be in vain.”
Next on the list would be machines to help them plow rather than relying on
“muscle power.”
“They use donkeys and horses and their own muscles, which is not very
efficient,” Jallow said. “What they need is small power tillers to help
them till the soil and prepare their beds.”
Jallow expressed his gratitude for SC State’s transformational
partnership with NARI and the promise of the ongoing relationship.
“To the people of South Carolina, the government of the U.S. and South
Carolina State University, I want to say thank you very much,” he said.
“This is a rare thing for us to have something of this magnitude.”
This is the first in a series of articles regarding South Carolina
State University’s academic exchange and agricultural extension
partnership in the developing West African nation of The Gambia._