Gambia's army takes to farming

By Ebrima Sillah
BBC Africa Live, The Gambia

Gambian soldiers are competing to grow the biggest harvest

Africa's many coups have led some countries on the continent to devise other ways of engaging their armed forces.

The aim is to make the military more productive and relevant to society, instead of toppling elected governments.

In The Gambia, the army men and women are being provided with various skills including farming.

Every morning after their normal military parade in the main army barracks in Yundum, about 25 kilometres from the capital, Banjul, the soldiers are lined up for their day's tasks on the farm.

They are proving just as capable and efficient on the farm as they would in their barracks or when they are manning guard posts dressed in their military fatigue, armed with AK47 guns.

The army has already cultivated over 40 hectares of land including rice, maize, water melon, bitter tomato and other foodstuffs that are often consumed in the barracks.

Back to land

In addition to the farm, the soldiers are also being allocated a huge piece of land so they can grow fresh vegetables to supplement their meals.

HAVE YOUR SAY An idle mind is the workshop of the devil. During peace times soldiers should have some developmental activities to keep them busy. Elias Mutungi USA/Uganda Send your comments

The commander of the main Yundum army barracks, Major Kanteh who is also overseeing the army's back-to-land policy says: "We are encouraged not only by the president's calls for operation-feed-yourself but we also want to instil in the minds of our soldiers that in the time of peace, the military can do a lot in complementing government efforts in achieving sustainable development."

The army intends to use the money saved on purchasing foodstuffs to provide other useful skills such as carpentry and engineering.

Currently the government spends hundreds of thousands of dalasis, the local currency, to feed the army.

But the army is hopeful that with the current back-to-land policy, this could change sooner rather than later.

Each army platoon is allocated a number of hectares to cultivate. In fact, the platoons are encouraged to compete among themselves.

Bumper harvest

Gambia's president who is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, has not only given his blessing to the policy but also pledged to reward the platoon that returns the biggest harvest.

Civilian farmers whose land borders Yundum barracks have had their farms ploughed free of charge and are also expecting a bumper harvest.

Senior army officers believe that engaging the army into non-traditional military ventures is one sure way of making its soldiers more focused on the task of nation-building.

This, the senior officers believe, will also help to convince a highly sceptical civil society that the national army is a partner in development and not an enemy.