AbdoulieDibba
Groundnut farmers in the North Bank Region, who have to trek very long distances to reach “seccos” or buying points, are now reporting to exchanging their nuts for rice from middlepersons.
They have been complaining the slow pace in the flow of cash in the “seccos” and the long distances to cover in order to sell their nuts. The failure to open the “secco” at Tabana in the Jokadu district has forced the farmers there to either sell their nuts by travelling all the way to Kuntaya or batter middle persons.
According to Modou Mass, one of the farmers in Tabana, it is more profitable for them to sell their nuts to the middlepersons who offer a bag of rice for nuts in the form of a batter.
Another farmer called Faburama from the same village said some of the middlepersons are buying their nuts at either D875 or D925 per bag depending on how full it is. “They buy a full bag of groundnuts at D925,” he said.
He revealed that the majority of farmers are selling their nuts in exchange for a bag of rice which, according to him, is more profitable.
Other farmers who spoke to this reporter shared the same view.