Fighting food loss with flowers: hibiscus jams and juices in the Gambia

Ndey Drammeh is a young woman farmer in the Republic of the Gambia, a small West African state on the southernmost border of the Sahel region. Like many of her fellow farmers across the country, she is no stranger to the challenges of smallholder agriculture and food insecurity. In recent years, total crop production in the Gambia has dropped drastically due to poor rains and this, combined with soaring food prices, has left more than half the population without enough food.

"All we have is agriculture," says Ndey, "so we are interested in anything that can make us more self-sufficient."

A project of the Food and Agriculture Organization is working with Ndey and other farmers like her to tap into this interest in self-sufficiency, reducing food loss and enabling them to increase their income along the way.

The project works with women's groups and farmers' associations, focusing on hibiscus flowers which, in the past, were often thrown away when preparing the leaves for cooking. The women are trained in separating and saving the flowers, and processing them to produce hibiscus jam and juice which they then package for sale.

Thanks to effective marketing techniques, the jam and juice products are sold throughout the country, and the initiative has quickly become an important source of income for the farmers.

FAO Project Manager Amie Jallow Jatta notes that many of the women – Ndey included – are eager to use the entrepreneurial skills they have gained through the project to start their own businesses: "The skills she developed by joining this group, she can use it to develop herself into a big entrepreneur, and that is what she is working towards."

"This initiative helps us be more self-sufficient," says Ndey with a smile. "We can invest more in our farming, get better yields, and live in better conditions."