GAMBIA - GAMBIE

His Excellency Captain Edward Singhatey, Vice-President of the Republic of the Gambia

First of all, I would like to thank the World Food Summit Secretariat, the Committee on World Food Security and its constituent inter-sessional working group and sub-groups for the high quality documentation and splendid arrangements for the Summit. My profound gratitude also goes to the Government and people of Italy for their abundant resources placed at the disposal of FAO for the holding of the Summit and the hospitality accorded to me and my delegation since our arrival in this historic city.

With a total land mass of 100 700 km², a total population of about 1.37 million people, growing at an unprecedented rate of 4.1 percent per annum, a per capita GDP of US$ 337, 33 percent of the urban population and 54 percent of the rural population being food-poor and an annual food import bill of US$ 40 million make the Gambia one of the smallest, most densely populated and food insecure countries in continental Africa. The economy of the country is characterized by a poor natural resource base and reliance on agriculture, trade, tourism and a few light industries. Agriculture, including livestock, fisheries and forestry, employs about 75 percent of the national labour force and contributes 21 percent of GDP.

The Gambia has a total arable land of about half a million hectares. A potential annual sustainable fisheries yield of about 80 thousand metric tons and a national livestock herd of 300 000 head of cattle and a small ruminant population of about 330 000. Paradoxically, only 32 percent of the total arable land is cultivated annually. Similarly, only 37 percent of our sustainable fisheries yield is harvested annually, while only 8 percent of our national herd is exploited. These rates of gross underutilization of our food resources defined the scope for expanding our domestic food production. However they also underscore the unacceptability of our food insecurity and seriously question the diversion of huge proportions of our scarce foreign exchange resources for the importation of food. Thus, like all governments of low-income food-deficit countries the primary preoccupation of our Government is the imperatives of achieving food security for all Gambians through increased domestic production and contributing to a global solution to the stark social realities of hundreds of millions of people going to bed each night on empty stomachs.

Despite the formidable constraints to the capacity of our economy to increase the degree of domestic food self-sufficiency, the resolve of the people to achieve food security for all Gambians is laudable. This determination towards self-reliance is attested to by the fact that over the last six years the share of food aid in our national cereal balance sheet declined from 13 percent in 1990 to less than 1 percent in 1995.

Our Government's determination to nurture and sustain this resolve of the people for self-reliance in achieving food security is reflected in the number of food production related programmes and projects under implementation as detailed in our country position paper for the Summit. Key among these programmes and projects is a national poverty alleviation programme which places emphasis on the following: Enhancing the productive capacity of the people; improving access and performance of social services; building capacity at local community levels and promoting participatory communication processes. Thus, our Government is confident that the successful implementation of this programme and other specific agriculture and food production programmes and projects will create the necessary enabling environment for a sustainable achievement for food for all Gambians.

In view of the foregoing and the importance of food security to the prosperity and peace of the people of the Gambia as a nation, the Government hereby attests to the Declaration of this Summit particularly its commitment to food security and the Plan of Action, and resolves to pursue vigorously the tenants of this laudable undertaking in the interest of world peace and the future well-being of all mankind.

At the global level, a major cause of hunger and starvation is war, including other forms of armed conflict. Crops are destroyed and entire villages deserted thereby rendering farmers unable to produce food.

Another factor aggravating poverty and hunger in many parts of the world is the question of debt burden upon the poor nations, a large portion of whose meagre revenue is swallowed-up by debt servicing. Hardly anything is left to run social services, let alone to buy any agricultural implements to boost food production.

Another handicap is the strategy to use food as a weapon and vindictively render large populations hungry using political -isms and ideological differences as a pretext to starve men, women and children into subservience. The deprived people of the developing countries belong to the one small world that is getting even smaller. It is not our choice, or even our fault that we are poor, hungry or homeless but our misfortune due to overwhelmingly unfavourable circumstances especially in the case of those countries considered to be of no strategic or economic importance. This policy should change giving way to coexistence and mutual cooperation based on tolerance and understanding as well as respect for each nation's sovereignty and self determination. This would augur well for world peace; the prevention of war and similar conflicts should therefore be given priority if our efforts to increase food production are to succeed in eradicating hunger. Where peace and stability prevail, farming communities would be encouraged to work harder and once assisted with the necessary inputs and technical advice would therefore enable them to produce more food for themselves and for the market. As a demonstration of our resolve in this regard in the Gambia we have established a national food sub-committee on food security.

Other important measures we as a nation have taken include:

· The establishment and maintenance of food reserve stocks at the community level through community-owned and managed cereal banks;

· Abolishing taxes and duties on agricultural inputs and exports generally and for smallscale producers in particular; and

· The establishment of an input revolving fund with special consideration for women farmers.

These may be modest achievements but at least a major step in the right direction.

In conclusion, I hope that the commitments being made here yield the desired results for the betterment of all mankind both for the present and future generations to come. The Almighty God created all of us and gave us this world to live in and to develop into an even better place where we can care for and help each other irrespective of our different ethnic backgrounds and political ideology. I hope and pray that we will all work more diligently to this end. I thank you all for your attention.