SC State works with Gambian citrus grower to improve West African nation’s farming operations
SC State Public Service & Agriculture hopes to mitigate world hunger through its Gambian efforts.
Note: This is the third 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.
The citrus grower is among the farmers SC State’s Public Service and Agriculture division (PSA) is working with to become “master farmers” who offer their knowledge toward improving agriculture and nutrition in Gambia.
Dr. Lamin Drammeh, SC State PSA’s associate vice president and director of strategic initiatives, evaluation and engagement, works with Gambian agriculture as the principal investigator of a grant funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture via the 1890 Universities Foundation Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense (CEGFSD).
“Our Gambian strategy is to empower farmers like him to be able to become master farmers in the Gambia who can provide technical training to beginning farmers, particularly women farmers,” Drammeh said, noting that over 70% of the country’s farmers are women. “Gambia has seen an upsurge in young women who want to be in the farming business.”
Gambian orchard owner Mamadou Barry will be a "master farmer" by teaching other farmers
his techniques.
Barry’s relationship with SC State resulted from the university’s 2021 needs assessment
of the agriculture sector and food supply chain systems in several African countries
via the CEGFSD grant.
The university works with Gambia’s National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) to conduct research and increase agricultural extension services.
“After speaking with a colleague, we visited the orchard,” Drammeh said. “He showed us how he does grafting and how he sells the grafted trees to other farmers who can now grow and become citrus producers.
“So, he is a distributor, a farmer, a trainer and an extension agent all in one, and he did not have extension agent education and training,” Drammeh said. “All his grafting is through his own initiative – his own ideas. He created new knowledge and is transferring that knowledge.”
“With the master farming strategy, Mr. Barry will be able to help them. He will be here to support them,” Drammeh said. “The Ministry of Agriculture can support him through training.
“From South Carolina State, our role is to share the best ideas we have. We want him to be able to go to the United States and see what happens there. Then, he can come back to grow and thrive,” Drammeh said.
Barry grows six varieties of mandarins, six varieties of oranges and two varieties of grapefruit, as well as corn, groundnuts (peanuts), tomatoes, peppers, okra and other vegetables at his orchard south of Brikama.
He also lends portions of his land to women farmers to grow their own crops while passing on his knowledge of citrus and vegetable farming.
“It’s very important because the women, a lot of them don’t have land where they could make a living,” Barry said. “They are struggling. We give them a chance to do their farming. I’m 100% committed to help them, and at the same time, it will help the community.”
Drammeh said SC State is working with another farmer who has offered garden space to approximately 80 women farmers.
“We are encouraging the Ministry of Agriculture to adopt this as a policy – encouraging communities and farmers who have big land to help women who need to farm and have no land,” Drammeh said. “This will give them access to land.”
Benefits to SC State faculty and students
SC State PSA’s work with Barry goes both ways. He is sharing his knowledge of citrus operations with the researchers, and soon, he will do the same with SC State students.
Another element of SC State’s work in Gambia is the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the university signed with the University of the Gambia in Banjul on Aug. 7. The agreement will allow for student and faculty exchange between the two universities.
Drammeh said SC State intends to send interns to work at Barry’s orchard, as well as students who participate in the cultural exchange.
“For South Carolina State University students in the future, this is one of the facilities they will be visiting to have one to three days of training as part of their cultural immersion experiences,” Drammeh said.
Barry appreciated SC State’s presence at the orchard.
“Dr. Drammeh, I cannot thank him enough,” Barry said. “He is a good guy, and he encourages me a lot. He keeps pushing and pushing because agriculture is the backbone of the nation.”
Along with the orchard project and the agreement with UTG, SC State’s agricultural extension work in Gambia has included a CEGFSD-funded water pumping system at a farmers' cooperative garden in the North Bank village of Illiassa. On Aug. 6, in conjunction with NARI and the Ministry of Agriculture, SC State handed over the project to the 400 women who farm at the garden.