The cooperative marketing societies were established to facilitate the speedy purchase of groundnut produce and their transportation by the National Food SProcessing and Marketing Corporation (formerly GGC) for early payment of what is due to them. In the past they served as conduits for the sale of rice and condiments by the defunct Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB).
Now the seccos in URR are closing mainly because of poor sales of the groundnut crop, meaning that thousands are turning their back at the seccos. There is need for an expert study of what went wrong in the sale of groundnuts to the seccos. Exportation of groundnuts has been a major source of foreign exchange. A study needs to find out why the seccos are gradually put aside.
