Researcher Dr Ebrima Sonko and Lamin F Bojang Bojang Senior Research Assistant from the National Research Institute of the Gambia (NARI) dilated on the research protocols applied at the experiment site at Bulock since the transplant of the onion seedlings in February this year. The duo were speaking during a monitoring visit on Saturday 12th April, 2025. Dr Sonko underscored the importance of partnership to the success of research implementation noting the invaluable support rendered by senior research assistant Bojang to the women gardeners. Having the primary mandate of agricultural research in the country, Dr Sonko acknowledge NARI’s collaborative efforts since the start of the project. For his part, Senior Research Assistant Lamin F. Bojang from NARI explained the research protocols applied at the site including collecting data on grow parameters of the onion trials whilst the yield parameters will be collected by the end of the experiment. Being the technician on ground, Mr Bojang also exposes farmers on best water conservation and pest management practices for the women.
“TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY” SAYS DR SAWANEH
Senior Researcher Dr Mamma Sawaneh has described the efforts of women framers at the Bulock pilot site as impressive. He made the remarks while presiding over the weighing of onion produce by farmers. He noted his satisfaction seeing huge amount of yields recorded by individual farmers as the harvest continues. Dr Sawaneh singles out an old woman named Fatou Jarjue, who is in her 70’s for the remarkable achievement. Her onion bed produces 56.95 kilograms recording the highest in a single harvest among her colleagues. “We believe that technology has the potential to improve productivity in agriculture that’s the more reason we introduced this irrigation system” Dr Sawaneh said. He expressed hope that similar initiatives can be replicated in other communities at the end of the project in August 2025.
Fatoumatta Jallow is another happy farmer who also harvest over 50kg of onion from her single bed. she returned gratitude to the project and partners for the milestone development transforming the garden with new technologies. This she acknowledges has made work easy for farmers.
“FATOU JARJUE’s HARVEST” A SUCCESS STORY!
In the small village of Foni Bulock West Coast region of The Gambia, where the sun painted the land in gold and the river whispered through the mangroves, lived a woman named Fatou Jarjue. In her 70’s, she is recognized for her quiet strength and perseverance for something else that made her the pride among her fellow farmers – her onions. Fatou is one of the 24 gardeners at Bulock women garden where the RECCLUM project embarks on a feasibility study on Climate Change Renewable Energy and Land use management. Prior to the project intervention in supporting a perimeter fence, a borehole and drip irrigation system, the garden was stubborn, and many had tried before and failed to tame it due to its vulnerability to external factors. Fatou will wake-up every morning, wearing her veil with care, with a hoe in one hand and a jerrycan in the other only to struggle in drawing water from an old well to water her crops. She walked to the garden and worked until the sun climbed high into the sky. She planted onions, row by row on a plot size of 20meter by 70 centimeter without hands blistering, her back ached. When others weren’t hopeful she believed and said, “Onions will grow well here with the new irrigation system,” she just smiled and kept watering. The village couldn’t believe it at her age over 70 years. By the time harvest came, Fatou had 56.95 kilograms of onions – far more than anyone in the first harvest had ever seen from one small bed. Her produce caught the eyes of a young journalist accompanying researchers to interview her, he asked, “You look happy, Fatou?” Fatou laughed and expressed happiness with her harvest. “Patience and the will to make something grow with the support of these officers when we thought it won’t.” Now, her fellow farmers call the harvest day “Fatou’s season.” And in her field, beneath the scorching West African sun, Fatou stands tall – an onion farmer, a grandmother, and a quiet force who turned the soil into gold. “I have never ever harvested this amount of onions in my entire life in this garden in one harvest. I thank God and the entire project officials for this gain”. The old woman added.