By: Christian Conteh
As he continues his campaign in the Wulli West Constituency GMC’s National Assembly Candidate Mai Ahmed Fatty has revealed that the current available supply of locally produced onions exceeds the district’s demands.
This he said means Wulli West is at the moment self-sufficient in onion production. It further indicates that the Upper River Region (URR) alone has the potential to supply onions to the whole country.
“This potentially renders the nation self-sufficient in onion production, putting an end to onion importation,” he said.
He however acknowledged that storage and structured marketing are the main challenges and this is where formal intervention is needed for sustainability.
“Storage and structured marketing are the main challenges. This is where formal intervention is needed for sustainability. A partnership between stakeholders such as the producer communities, Basse Area Council for storage and market, and the central government for enabling policy.
Wulli West is a big contributor to the regional URR economy. An estimated minimum of five million Dalasis is transacted on each lumo day once a week at Sare Ngai – potentially a whopping 20 million Dalasi trade volume per month,” Mai Fatty said.
He called on the predominantly Fulani frontier village trading post to be upgraded and transformed with necessary support services and facilities, into a leading regional border trading hub.
He also encouraged the people to promote and protect Gambian produce at all cost. Noting that such an action is a roadmap to national self-reliance and an important component of economic empowerment in the fight against poverty.
