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Momodou
Denmark
11717 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 10:19:14
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Prices OF Commodities Increasing
By Suwaibou Touray
02-03-11
Prices of food stuffs and other commodities have gone up in the market barely two months after the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs delivered his 2011 Budget speech.
This reporter conducted investigation at the local markets which has indicated that retail prices of sugar, cooking oil, Irish potato, salt, and all other commodities have all jumped upwards.
According to findings the price of rice has gone from D750 to D800 Dalasi per bag. Sugar has hiked from D1000 to D1375. Irish potato from D350 to D500 and flour from D860 to D970 per bag in the retail stores. It is also understood that flour at the wholesale price stood at D950 dalasis.
Other commodities such as fish and cooking oil have also spiraled upwards. For example, cooking oil has gone up from D45 to D55 per liter.
Editor’s NOTE
A Consumer Protection Agency should be able to work with the Gambia Chamber of Commerce to discuss the trends in the international market and provide notices of what would constitute a reasonable price which could guide the business Community. It must however be added that since we took charge of our internal self Government Gambia has been unable to produce what her people consume.
Source: Foroyaa
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A clear conscience fears no accusation - proverb from Sierra Leone |
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toubab1020
12311 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2011 : 13:43:20
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Increased food prices is a global problem I think a mixture of poor harvests caused by climatic conditions in relation to wheat for flour,and probably other commodities,as regards Irish potatoes,Ireland has a very big debt to repay on loans taken out to try to stabalise their fragile economy.The cost of fuel to transport food has also played a big part in price increases in commodities.If Gambia had managed to persuade her people to grow more themselves then that would have helped,but cost of seed and very small commercially unviable gardens havn't helped the situation,and lack of money available to the average Gambian ,who has no job.You may remember a little while ago there was a topic in which market vendor women were unable to sell their produce even if they travelled from lumo to lumo:
http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10318&SearchTerms=lumo
Another link:http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/time-to-eat-what-we-grow-grow-what-we-eat
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 03 Mar 2011 14:07:15 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 31 Mar 2011 : 21:46:24
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quote:
Originally posted by toubab1020
Increased food prices is a global problem I think a mixture of poor harvests caused by climatic conditions in relation to wheat for flour,and probably other commodities,as regards Irish potatoes,Ireland has a very big debt to repay on loans taken out to try to stabalise their fragile economy.The cost of fuel to transport food has also played a big part in price increases in commodities.If Gambia had managed to persuade her people to grow more themselves then that would have helped,but cost of seed and very small commercially unviable gardens havn't helped the situation,and lack of money available to the average Gambian ,who has no job.You may remember a little while ago there was a topic in which market vendor women were unable to sell their produce even if they travelled from lumo to lumo:
http://www.gambia.dk/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10318&SearchTerms=lumo
Another link:http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/time-to-eat-what-we-grow-grow-what-we-eat
I agree but in the case of The Gambia, the contraction of foreign exchange earning venues has compounded the problem for we are using lots of dalasi to purchase few dollars in order to keep the imports of essential comsumables coming into the country.
With the current high level of remittance going into the country, if there is still a good export of our cash crops like groundnut and cotton going on, and a vibrant tourism industry that is being flooded with tourists as it used to be in the 80s and 90s, the question of food price inflation would not have been this severe.
Thanks |
I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 03:19:41
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"If Gambia had managed to persuade her people to grow more themselves then that would have helped,but cost of seed and very small commercially unviable gardens havn't helped the situation,and lack of money available to the average Gambian ,who has no job."
Nyari there has been a national consertive drive to get people on to the land and for many years all the opposition did was ridcule those attempts. Gambia women have heeded the rally call and have been productively working to grow Gambian produce. They do work very hard.
Those who have heeded the rally call in Gambia "We eat what we grow and we grow what we eat." Aren't suffering as much as those who decided to drink attayaa and wait for so and so to send them money from Babylon.
It's those positive people who grow their own fruit and vegetables to supplement their families diets. It is they that rare and raise their livestock.
Before you mock this food can be grown in the most unsual places. Cuba is a fine example of this.
Has you've already mentioned the environmental hazards that have impacted on world commodity prices. Now have led oil prices skyrocketing. People around the world are feeling the pinch and are having to economicise to live within their means. Hence less arrivals coming through Yundum International Airport.
Its just a matter of people being more prudent in uncertain times. The only way of getting out of this situation is for Gambians to eat what they can grow inside the country and to cut back on non initial imports in these austere times.
In other words people have to start to live with in their means. For example there's no need for Gambia to import onions from Holland when it can be grown at home. Peole can find ways to grow food by collecting the seeds from the food they eat. You don't need seeds for onions you just need to allow the old ones to rot and before you know it they are sprouting seedlings then just transplant them.
It's amazing how people living in the provinces are so resourceful Particularly those who have positive attitudes towards hard work. As any farmer knows it takes effort to grow food and if the elements are with the farmer then they will reap the rewards of their labour and if the elements aren't with them then the seeds they plant will perish.
Empowerment is key.
Peace
Sister Omega |
Peace
Sister Omega |
Edited by - Sister Omega on 01 Apr 2011 03:28:55 |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 07:59:19
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''Nyari there has been a national consertive drive to get people on to the land and for many years all the opposition did was ridcule those attempts. Gambia women have heeded the rally call and have been productively working to grow Gambian produce. They do work very hard.''- Sister Omega
All I am aware of is a concerted campaign to get people including civil servants, deliver free labour on the president's private farms. I would call that modern day slavery. Won't you?
Cheers
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 10:27:08
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Nyari whose responsibility is it to make sure people are feed the government or the people?
If everyone in the country were Civil Servants then how would the nation feed itself and prosper. Gambia is prodominantly an agrarian country. Its wealth depends on farming. So if no one is prepared to farm then few will eat.
The President's farm supplies poorer farmers with cheap cattle and goats. This in turn allows the poor to be able to start up or replenish their stock. In addition the youth are also moblised and trained in farming and farming related trades.
What's the point of eating Irish potatoes costing D500 when people can grow an alternative cheaperi.e sweet potatoe, pumpkin, yam or cous.
Nyari in the provinces people are already doing this because they are aware that sitting down drinking Attayaa and dreaming about becoming a civil servant will not satisfy their ungrateful bellies because as you know once you fill it up. Soon afterwards your belly is bound to get hungry again. So Gambian farmers are vital to the Gambian economy without the farmers diversifying their produce more people will go hungry.
Nyari you don't know what slavery is. Check out my site to hear some real slaves talking.
Peace
Sister Omega
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Peace
Sister Omega |
Edited by - Sister Omega on 01 Apr 2011 10:30:31 |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 11:48:45
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People being made to work against their will sounds like slavery to me.
In Gambia MOST people DO grow some things for their family. But equally most people can't grow everything their family needs. Some barter and markets using money are needed. Many people don't have enough land to keep animals. If they want meat to be part of their diet (albeit a small part) most people have to buy this. Also they need 'fish money'.
The main price which has a BIG impact on families is the price of staples such as rice. Poor people across the world spend a higher percentage of their income on food, so when prices rise the impact is highest on the poorest. In UK we are seeing an increase in people growing veg aswell as the traditional flowers. Some people are having allotments (similar to a small compound garden). All this HELPS, but the real solution is to stabilise world food prices.HOW is another question! |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 17:38:03
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| well said, Gambiabev. |
I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 18:02:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Sister Omega
Nyari whose responsibility is it to make sure people are feed the government or the people?
Peace
Sister Omega
Adam Smith, the father of economics once said; ‘‘the primary purpose of any government is to guide and promote the welfare of its citizens’’. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the government would have to provide bread and butter on the table for every household but that it must be able and willing to create the environment that could allow for individual development and those of private businesses. i.e, they must be able to introduce and facilitate initiatives and programmes that are geared towards the promotion of the welfare interest of the citizenry. Any government that is incapable or lacks the will to do this is completely devoid of legitimacy and must forfeit its right to govern.
Our government;
• killed the groundnut [peanut] subsector, which was the main foreign exchange earner for the country, through its reckless management of the marketing of this produce;
• destroyed the GPTC, which provides easy means of transportation to the rural small scale farmers at an affordable cost, thereby making it extremely hard for them to transport their produce to and from urban and sub-urban markets;
• the human rights and governance situation in The Gambia has and continues to deter investors from participating in the development of agriculture and other sectors of the economy;
• all the above is being done in favour of a policy of covert coercion that is hell-bent on ensuring that Gambians from all walks of life deliver free labour on the president's private farms;
• the entire Gambian economy has been hijacked by the president's private business tentacles ranging from sand and gravel mining, bakery, butchery, telecommunications, import of essential consumables like rice etc, in total annihilation of small scale businesses with no corresponding tax gains for the nation's treasury but rather an increasing tax contraction due to the fading of numerous private businesses that can’t compete with the president, not to mention the attendant colossal job losses.
This is the grim picture, Sister Omega. Your simplistic views and naivety have no chance of wiping the records. Only a proper review and reform of government policies will suffice.
Cheers
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I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 01 Apr 2011 18:40:47 |
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Janyanfara
Tanzania
1350 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 20:50:03
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| Well said brother Nyari and sister gambiabev.A Daniel has come to judgement |
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Sister Omega
United Kingdom
2085 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 22:31:05
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Your comments make me laugh no wonder the APRC will win this months elections hands down.
Nyari go to Gambia and ask the farmers for their input on the situation. It's only by talking to them that your argument wlll be more objective than subjective and less shallow than what you've said so far.
Peace
Sister Omega |
Peace
Sister Omega |
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Moe
USA
2326 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 22:38:55
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Sis am on your defence on this one, knowing how agriculture is helping boost and transform the Gambian economy as per the IMF report, that makes Jammeh wanna do the "HULA Dance" agriculture is becoming a success in Tiny Gambia and the farmers are so confident they offer the man land crediting his initiatives. The opposition can say what they want but the Farmers and international monetary Fund says otherwise..............................................Peace
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I am Jebel Musa better yet rock of Gibraltar,either or,still a stronghold and a Pillar commanding direction
The GPU wants Me Hunted Down for what I don't know ..... |
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Nyarikangbanna
United Kingdom
1382 Posts |
Posted - 01 Apr 2011 : 23:46:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Sister Omega
Your comments make me laugh no wonder the APRC will win this months elections hands down.
Nyari go to Gambia and ask the farmers for their input on the situation. It's only by talking to them that your argument wlll be more objective than subjective and less shallow than what you've said so far.
Peace
Sister Omega
I was born a farmer in rural Gambia and was in the country last december. So don't tell me to ask the farmers. I am their very own western educated child.
I am sure toubab now understands why i get pissed-off with your gaffes, ramblings and ignorance.
I have noticed that when you are unable to take on the substantive isues of a debate, you retreat to your comfort zone of utter simplicity and nievity. Where do you know in rural gambia other than Ndugu kebbeh? What do you know about the fulladus, kiangs jarras, saloumns and the baddibus? Absolutely nothing. And by the way, it was the P.P.P that built a health centre for the community of Ngugu kebbeh and initiated a bi-weekly lumo [market day] through the then senegambia confederation. protocols.
The bed net dipping you talked about the last time was introduced way back in the 80s. You only saw a continuation of the same programme that has been and still continues to be funded by UNICEF and WHO.
Cheers |
I do not oppose unity but I oppose dumb union. |
Edited by - Nyarikangbanna on 02 Apr 2011 00:14:52 |
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gambiabev
United Kingdom
3091 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2011 : 12:54:33
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Nyarikangbanna thanks for sharing with us your experiences in rural Gambia. I would love to hear more.
Perhaps you could tell us more under a new topic: growing up in rural Gambia. I would love to hear from 'the horses mouth' as we say in UK.
I would like to know which NGO you feel made a difference and would like advice about which type of projects you feel best improve the quality of life in villages. What are the priorities?
I sometimes wonder if Sister Omega is a spy on here for the government. Or is paid by The President to spread propaganda?
Also Nyarikangbanna, I wonder what influences your life the most? Family? Education? Would you consider going back to Gambia to live?
If you dont want to talk in public, you can always private email me in confidence. |
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toubab1020
12311 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2011 : 12:58:37
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"I sometimes wonder if Sister Omega is a spy on here for the government. Or is paid by The President to spread propaganda?"
Surley not but there agin it's almost always about politics 
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 02 Apr 2011 12:59:21 |
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