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Emergency Trust Fund for Africa
News article23 August 2018

Nut businesses get a boost in The Gambia

Nut businesses get a boost in The Gambia

RFI recently dedicated a series of articles on the work carried by the EUTF and ITC in the Gambia with the YEP programme. Here is an extract of the first reportage.

A cloud of brown dust rises from the groundnut de-shelling machine at the Arafat Workshop agro-processing business in The Gambia. The workers are covered with a fine layer of powder as the decortication machine spits out the remnants of the nuts’ shells. This business is part of an EU-funded initiative to further develop agro-processing in the country and create more jobs.

“Yeah its hard work, life’s just like that, it’s all been challenging,” says Mohamed Bah, who has been working at the company in Bakoteh, Serrekunda for the past five years since finishing school. “Nothing but difficult - here or elsewhere you work - we work to improve our lives, our standard of living.”

The company employs both full-time workers and occasional staff, including a number of young people. They earn between three to five euros a day according to the workload.

“It depends on the work,” says Tamsir Saho, the owner. “When I have hard work I will pay them up to 300 dalasi - when I have plenty of groundnut,” he adds, referring to the daily rate in the local currency.

The processing begins with de-shelling and cleaning the raw groundnuts, or peanuts as they are also known. A machine inside a large shed then produces groundnut oil, which is collected in large containers. The oil is left to settle so that the sediment can be separated.

To read the entirety of the article, visit RFI website

Source: RFI/Daniel Finnan

Details

Publication date
23 August 2018
Region and Country
The Gambia
Thematic
Greater economic and employment opportunities
Partner
ITC - International Trade Center

Programmes in the region