By: Modou Touray
Vegetable gardeners have urged journalists to effectively report on their challenges for relevant stakeholders to take appropriate actions in addressing them. This they say will enable them have access to the necessary ingredients for successful farming season.
“Our problems are many in vegetable production. Such problems are sometimes not known to agric officials. If journalists and other communicators continuously highlight these challenges, it will be easy for authorities and development partners to know and help us get the required supports,” Mariama Sarr, a gardner in Jarra Soma said.
For Agi Ceesay of Toniataba village, vegetable gardening is a key source of income for rural women, therefore reporting on such issues will uplift the status of farmers.
According to a 2017 World Bank Report, agriculture is an important source of livelihood for most rural people. It is estimated that 2.5 billion of the developing world’s 3 billion rural inhabitants involved in agriculture.
In a recent field trip to vegetable gardens, women emphasized the pivotal role of information gathering and reporting on agriculture.
“It is important to tell people through your various media about how we are suffering and struggling before we are able to harvest and transport our produce to the market. Our borehole was damaged, and each gardener contributed to maintenance it. If it was reported by the press, maybe some philanthropists would have helped,” Sainabou saidykhan, the women president of Jarra Jenoi vegetables garden said.
Adama Jammeh, second vice president of the Bakau women garden, shared her expertise on vegetable gardening and made similar sentiments on the significance of highlighting the plight of farmers.
“Effective communication is important because it enables the farmers and stakeholders to exchange ideas, thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and data so that the message is received and understood with clarity and purpose. When we communicate effectively, both the sender and receiver feel satisfied,” Lamin Ceesay, a retired agric extension staff said.
The president of the Network of Agricultural Communicators – The Gambia, Mr Amadou Jallow, spoke at length on the role of journalists in improving the agricultural sector.
“We are journalists with interest in agric reporting and agricultural works. We trained the journalist and communicators so that they can positively impact on agriculture by highlighting the concerns of the farmers for possible actions. We intend to have journalists who specialize in agric reporting.”
Agricultural communication is a field that focuses on communication about agriculture-related information among agricultural stakeholders.
