The cooperative producer and marketing societies which had seccos all over the country were initially designed to provide production input at affordable prices to the farmers and then purchase their nuts at fair prices only to sell them oil, rice and other commodities at affordable prices. The marketing chain was disrupted by wrong practices.
The government claims that it wants to reintroduce a cooperative scheme, but is yet to show in practice this season how it intends to do so. We were initially informed fertiliser would be subsidized by the tax money of the people to lower the price. We thought that government was going to recapitalise GGC, and the seccos so that they would get fertiliser to the farmers and recover the money and keep it to be able to purchase their nuts on time, add value by producing oil and earn more money from export in order to prepare for the next season.
At the moment, the Foroyaa journalists see secco presidents selling fertiliser at 1150 dalasis per bag while agents of the Farmers’ Platform are selling it at 1100 per bag. The Government stakeholders should hold a press conference so that relevant questions could be asked for the public to get relevant answers.
