Rush for ‘cheap’ Kanilai bread: A visible sign of poverty

It’s not a surprised that people, most of whom are low income earners living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day; continue to form very longqueues to buy bread from Kanilai Farm Bakery, owned by President Jammeh, at a reduced price of D3 per loaf.  

There are some people whose special daily routine for this Ramadan is just to buy bread from the Kanilai Farm.  When they wake up their only work is to go and join the excessive long queue to buy the bread; sometimes spend hours waiting for their turn.

The original price of bread, as of now, is D5 but due to President Jammeh’s reported generosity and love for Gambian reduced the price of bread his bakery to D3 hence people storm there for D2 difference on each bread.

Even when it is only D1 difference people will still make long queues.  Gambians are now use to cheap things - whether it’s of good quality or not, is another thing.  However, this does not mean that Kanilai Farm’s bread is of low quality.  The point here is that due to rising prices of basic goods, falling value of the Gambian Dalasi and stagnant earning power of Gambian workers particularly those in the civil service, people are always going for cheap things that can do similar work as the quality one with high price.   In a nutshell, average Gambians buy what they can afford not necessarily what is of high quality.  

Many Gambians are eating today just to satisfy their hunger not because a particular food is rich is balance diet.  No wonder why child malnutrition is on the rise, as some 11 per cent of children under the age of 5 are malnourished in rural areas of the country, presenting a 1 per cent increase over the previous year, and highest recorded record since 2006.

How can you have more than 50% of the population living in poverty, struggling to meet their three squares meals a day not to be going for the cheapest price? 

More than 50% of Gambians still in poverty despite improvement in education, health

The latest report of the International Monetary Fund on The Gambia has revealed that majority of Gambia’s 1.8 million people still lives in poverty despite an increment in primary school enrolment and completion, as well as an improvement in immunization, child and maternal mortality.

With the reported “robust economic growth” over the years, the latest survey on the country’s poverty situation states that the 58 per cent of the population lives in poverty.

  

The IMF report says the Gambia’s progress on reducing poverty has been mixed as various social indicators have shown strong improvement notably in education and health, but “a large share of the population stills lives in poverty”.

Gov’t denies Gambia at Risk of Debt Distress

The Gambia government has denied that the country is at high risk of debt distress, saying according to auditing done by international organizations, Gambia’s profile, if anything, is not at a debt distress level, contrary to the revelation made by a study report on the establishment of national civil society education fund.

Finance Minister 

The report states that The Gambia is still classified as high risk of debt distress even though the country received extensive debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives in 2007.

“No, The Gambia is not in any way at a debt distress level,” said Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Mambury Njie recently.  “I think if anything our recent CPIA rating has improved in a major variable and that is the proper management of the economy.” 

Gambians managing in economic hardship

Majority of Gambians are finding it very difficult to keep their heads above water these days as prices of basic food commodities continue to skyrocket, on the hills of an increased transport fare and electricity tariffs, even though the nation continues to experience erratic power supply.

As this dire situation continues stakeholders in the tussle are pointing fingers at each other.  Consumers are blaming the government for leaving traders to increase prices at will, while traders are partly blaming it on the rise in prices of goods at the international market as well as on the government for not reducing taxes or subsidizing basic foodstuffs, which in turn causes reduction in prices of commodities.  

The government, on the other hand, is saying it cannot implement price control, as demanded by many consumers, because The Gambia is a liberal economy that depends on taxes to finance its development plans.

The rising food prices and declining income sources provide a toxic mix in the country as most of the people wallow in poverty.

With the majority of the population being classified as living below the poverty level it is clear that many people are seriously affected even when small shocks of price rise occur.

Many Gambian workers do not earn more than D30,000 annually, which is D2,500 per month.

While bag of rice is costing nothing less than D700, daily fish money is at least D50 for the poorest of the poor, which is the lowest someone can go with to the market to buy condiments for the preparation of household food.  In addition to meeting this cost of living, a household head has to pay rent and take care of utility bills, all from a monthly salary of D2,500, which has left one to wonder how people survive in this country.

“If the costs of a bag of rice, fish money, and house rent are more than your salary, how about daily needs like soap, sugar and bread for breakfast and other life’s essentials,” ponders Ousman Manneh, breadwinner of a family of five. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that people are suffering in hardship,” he added.

NAWEC has just succeeded in lobbying for increased electricity tariffs, even though the increment is against the wish of most of the people. It says the increment will enable the company to upscale its services, which is yet to be really seen, as electricity supply continues to go haywire.

“To make matters worse, the Gambia National Transport Control Association has also increased transport fare, which favours commercial vehicle owners and drivers,” said Ndey Fatou Jobe, a trader in Serrekunda, who spoke to this reporter.

Sidia Jatta, National Assembly Member for Wuli West, has said that the rise in cost of living, such as transport fares, utilities and feeding, has compounded the situation the more. “Rather than decreasing poverty, they are increasing poverty,” he said, adding that what is happening “can only add to the worsening of poverty” in the country.

The resulting effect of these increments will be difficult to fathom as its consequences will affect cost of production and inflate prices of essential commodities and services, which leads to a high cost of living for the country’s populace.

“Many ordinary Gambians are undergoing serious economic hardship,” said Modou Kujabi, a hawker at the Serrekunda market.

Momodou said the prices of basic commodities such as rice and flour have gone beyond the reach of many ordinary Gambians.

“This is totally unacceptable in a country where the earning capacity has not been enhanced,” he pointed out, saying he and his fellow vendors are constantly harassed by the police who often drive them away from where they stand to sell on the roadside.

The regular harassment meted out to them by the police has placed them in a difficult situation, as they have been denied earning their daily income, he says.

Mamadou Edrissa Njie of the Gambia News and Report Magazine said Gambians are living in abject poverty, since they are only surviving from hand to mouth on a daily basis.

“The income of many Gambians in the country is very low,” he says. “As prices of basic commodities are rising every day, the poor are getting poorer by the day.”

A roadside restaurant owner, Omar Saidykhan, said the increase in the prices of foodstuffs has severely stifled his business, as he has had to increase the prices of his foodstuffs, which has made many customers to curtail frequenting his shop for breakfast and dinner. 

“This did not often go down well with the customers, who could not understand the dramatic increase. As a result, I am incurring losses on sales,” he said.

“My brother we are suffering, you don’t need to ask people to know that,” said Fatou Jallow, a housewife who spoke to this reporter at the Serrekunda market. 

“Things are getting more and more expensive beyond the reach of the average Gambians.  Prices of goods and services are skyrocketing like no man's business,” she said.

Many people who use to buy a bag of rice each month are now resorting to buying cups on a daily basis, which continues to put pressure on their income.

From the look of things one maybe tempted to say Gambians are happy despite living in poverty, but many sufferers say they have no other options.  “What can we do, we don’t know when things will change for us, so it’s better we open up and not to be frowning all the time,” Sarjo Badjie said.

Modou Joof of The Voice Newspaper, said the realities of a free rise in prices of basic commodities, high cost of electricity, mass unemployment and other aspects of economic hardship are prevalent in The Gambia. 

Mamudou Sillah of Global Electric Group says the hike in electricity tariff, transport fare increment and the rapid increase in the prices of basic human needs, especially rice, which is Gambia’s staple food, have pushed many Gambians to the brink of severe economic hardship.

“To make matters worse, all these things have been increased without any salary increment. People are really managing in hardship now,” he said, adding that very few people in the country are now using their salaries only for meeting the daily food of their households.

The wealthy people “may not be too feeling the hardship” in the country but “the poor are suffering”, Isatou Jallow, a housewife, said.  “I don’t know where we are heading to now,” she added.

According to Ebrima Lowe, an employee of Toplink Consulting, said employers in the country have made themselves “oblivious of the difficulties on the ground as they have so far failed” to increase salaries. 

“Employers should increase wages to pay salaries that commensurate with the rate of inflation and price increment in the country,” Mr Lowe said.

‘Poverty is increasing in The Gambia’

Finance Minister begs to disagree  National Assembly Member for Wuli West, Sidia Jatta, has said poverty is increasing in The Gambia but Finance Minister Abdou Kolley begs to disagree, saying poverty is in fact decreasing.  Pic: Hon. Sidia Jatta, Member for Wuli West “What we would acknowledge is may be the rate at which poverty is declining is not as fast as we would want it to be,” Hon. Kolley said. In his argument while putting the point across that the situation of poverty is increasing, Hon. Jatta said the transport situation in the country “is disastrous”, that one only needs to stand on the way, particularly at the Banjul Serrekunda Highway, “to see how disastrous” the transport situation has become. “So all those factors have compounded the situation; rather than decreasing poverty, they are increasing poverty,” he said. “So I cannot be convinced that poverty is in any way decreasing, because what is happening can only add to the worsening of poverty in the country.” Hon. Kolley, who is often praised by parliamentarians for always being at the National Assembly as and when necessary to answer questions related to his ministry, responded:  “I want to assure him [Sidia Jatta] that poverty is not on the increase, it’s on the decline. “What we would acknowledge is may be the rate at which poverty is declining is not as fast as we would want it to be. All poverty indicators indicate that poverty is declining but at a slower pace than what was expected. So when he [Sidia Jatta] said poverty is increasing, I don’t know where he got the figures from.” Many experts believe that until poverty is defined or a functional definition of what constitutes poverty is at least agreed upon, solutions to the problem of poverty will continue to remain elusive, and people, particularly politicians, will continue to disagree as to the level of poverty in the country. That was what really took place between the finance minister and the National Assembly member as regards poverty in The Gambia. Poverty could be defined as the state or condition of not having the means to afford the basic human needs necessary for the maintenance of a tolerable standard of living such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing, and shelter. The 2009 Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme ranked The Gambia 168th of a total of 182 low-income countries. In The Gambia, several poverty studies have been conducted with each study adopting a different methodology but in all the studies, overall poverty and food poverty were used to estimate the head count index. The first poverty study conducted in 1992 revealed that in terms of overall poverty, 31 per cent of the population were poor; 33.1 per cent of the population in the urban areas were food poor compared to 54 per cent in the rural areas. The second poverty study conducted in 1998 showed that overall poverty was significantly increasing from 31 per cent in 1992 to 69 per cent by 1998.  The study also showed huge differences between the populations living in different localities, as 60 per cent of the population in the rural areas were poor compared to only 13 per cent of those living in the urban areas. The third poverty study was carried out in 2003.  In this study, the poverty head count index was 58 per cent with the likelihood of ‘being poor’ higher in households located in rural areas; the proportion ranging from 34% for Banjul and Kanifing combined, 56 per cent in other urban areas and 67.8 per cent for predominantly rural areas. Like in 1992 and 1998, overall levels in 2003 were also higher in local government areas that are predominantly rural compared to the urban settlements in the Greater Banjul Area. The head count index reduced to 58 per cent in 2003 and overall poverty levels decreased in all regions except CRR North and South. In 2003, CRR had the highest poverty rates compared to NBR, LRR and URR, which had the highest rates in 1998. However, poverty levels have been on the rise since 1992, from 30 per cent of households living below the poverty level to 58 per cent in 2003. The MDG Status Report for 2007 indicates that “the country is far from achieving MDG target of 15 per cent”, which is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day. The PRSP report of 2006 placed the national poverty level at 74 per cent of the population. Relative to the 2002 estimates of 54 per cent, the 2006 level represents a 20 per cent rise in poverty level in just four years. These estimates invoke an alarming phenomenon that seems to militate against efforts at national economic development. Poverty distribution among the different segments of the population is far from symmetric, and that various studies have shown that gender and age distribution as well as location within the country have a bearing on the level of poverty, says the Gambia Competition Commission chairman Alieu Njie. Mr Njie says women and youth have a higher level of poverty than male adults in the 39-50 age brackets. “Poverty levels also tend to be higher in rural than urban and peri-urban areas of the country,” he added. “Thus, age, gender and geographic location tend to influence both the degree and intensity of poverty.” Breaking out of poverty requires strategies that would enable the poor to free themselves from the vicious circle either through education or through access to the means by which the poor can raise their level of production, productivity and consequently income and living standard. The country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II (PRSP II) indicates also that 68 per cent of rural population and 40 per cent of urban population live in poverty. Despite government efforts to eradicate poverty in the country, it seems the menace is escalating, according to the Core Welfare Indicator Survey (a countrywide survey) that was jointly conducted by The Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS), the National Planning Commission and PRO-PAG in 2009, facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme. About 63 per cent of the 3000 households surveyed classified themselves as poor of whom the proportion was highest in Kuntaur with 68.8 per cent, and lowest in Basse with 59.3 per cent. For households that regarded themselves as very poor, Janjanbureh tops the list with an account of 31.1 per cent, and Kanifing had the lowest with 17.1 per cent, while 15 per cent of households regarded themselves as non-poor and the proportion was highest in Brikama with 19.6 per cent and lowest in Kuntaur with 3.5 per cent. On household economic situation, 22 per cent of the population reported that the situations of their communities were little better compared to the year 2008; in addition, 22 per cent of the households reported that their situation remain the same while 15 per cent noted that theirs is little worse now, and 10.2 indicated that their situation is much worse and it was higher in the urban than in the rural areas.