Agriculture Minister Says Untested Fertilizer Cannot Be Distributed to Farmers

By Makutu Manneh

Demba Sabally, the minister of agriculture, livestock, and food security, has defended the government’s scrutiny of fertilizer that the National Democratic Party plans to distribute to farmers, saying agricultural products must be tested and cleared by the relevant authorities before they can be handed out.

Speaking to Provision TV, Mr. Sabally said the NDP had announced on social media that it had obtained 26,000 one-liter bottles of liquid fertilizer for distribution to farmers across the country.

But he said the product had not been tested by the National Agricultural Research Institute, or NARI, the institution responsible for verifying the quality and suitability of such agricultural inputs.

“NARI did not test it, and it was never presented to NARI,” Mr. Sabally said. “This is why we cannot allow that to reach the farmers.”

The minister said authorities were also seeking information about how the fertilizer was acquired and how the NDP intended to distribute it.

He said the Department of Agriculture, which operates regional offices across the country, had not been informed of the planned distribution. He questioned whether farmers receiving the fertilizer had been trained in its proper application and whether agricultural officials had been involved in guiding its use.

Mr. Sabally also raised questions about how the fertilizer entered the country. He said agricultural chemicals imported into The Gambia are expected to have laboratory documentation for customs clearance, but that customs officials had no record of the 26,000 bottles being imported.

Authorities, he said, were trying to determine who brought the product into the country and whether the importer was licensed to import agricultural chemicals.

Mr. Sabally stressed that the government was not accusing the NDP or its leader, Kebba Madi Bojang, of importing the fertilizer. Rather, he said, officials approached the party because it had possession of the product and had publicly announced plans to distribute it.

The minister said the government welcomed efforts by individuals, organizations, and political parties to support farmers, but that such assistance must comply with regulations intended to protect farmers and the environment.

“This is not personal or political,” Mr. Sabally said. “The institutions of the ministry are doing their jobs to protect the farmers, our environment, and our country. That is all it is; we are not hunting anyone.”

Mr. Bojang has disputed the government’s account and characterized the authorities’ actions as politically motivated.

Appearing on Kerr Fatou on Saturday, the NDP leader said he had been questioned by the police and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture over the fertilizer distribution. He maintained that he purchased the product locally and did not import it.

Mr. Bojang also said authorities knew the company from which he purchased the fertilizer, rejecting suggestions that questions about its importation should be directed at him.

The dispute has centered on whether the fertilizer received the regulatory scrutiny required before being distributed to farmers, with the government insisting that the product must first be tested and the NDP maintaining that it was purchased from a supplier already operating in the country.