By: Ousman G Darboe
Lamin Fatty is a hardworking young man who believes in making a difference in his homeland without embarking on the perilous and undocumented journey to Europe through the deserts and high seas in search of greener pastures.
Fatty is into gardening and farming all year round. He grows all kinds of plants, some for consumption and others for decoration purpose.
He also grows some climate change resilient trees to combat climate change.
Born in Niani Bani in the Central River Region of The Gambia where water and market facilities are major challenges, Fatty struggled to build himself a well through the Covid-19 fund, but that could not ease the water shortage burden for him to continue his commercial agricultural production.
In 2019, Fatty started his gardening, growing cassava and corn but he could not find any market for the produce due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so he decided to think of growing vegetables.
From there, he started to engage himself in mixed farming, growing variety of crops.
In a WhatsApp interview, Fatty stated “My challenges are many but the most urgent ones are the unavailability of market and shortage of water, causing setback to my production.”
“Whatever money I generate from this farm will remain in The Gambia. The crops and vegetables that I grow here are going to be consumed by Gambians, so I think I deserve assistance from the government or anyone who is in the position to help in order to make a bumper harvest and also to find market for my harvest”
He said borehole is his priority as well as a market for his produce, saying that he could not depend on rain or the lone well at his garden for a large-scale farming.
He said his work has made food easier to get in his community.
It is said that since the young Fatty started his gardening, most people in his community no longer go far distance to buy vegetables, thus they now eat healthy vegetables that are grown in their locality.
