Agriculture and Natural Resource Policy 2017-2026.

The Agriculture and Natural Resource (ANR) Policy 2017-2026 is a national multisectoral policy of The Gambia for the period 2017-2026. Its vision is the creation of a market-led commercialized, efficient, competitive and dynamic ANR sector in the context of sustainable development. This should be realized trough: i. A development which places strong emphasis on existing subsistence farms and medium sized private farms as source and base for further intensification and enhancement of output, productivity and income; ii. The integration of ANR with manufacturing, tourism and hotel industries to provide synergistic stimulus to output and income growth of these sectors; iii. The increase of productivity improvement as the main source of output growth; iv. The commercialization of ANR products that embody high content of knowledge and management skills, so through highly skilled expertise; v. The emerging importance of accessibility to adequate food supplies not only for domestic and export needs but also as an important stimulus for growth. Food production has also to address questions of nutrition, food quality and variety, through a dedicated policy; vi. The need for regional specialization and spatial relocation, in particular of ANR research activities; vii. The continuing importance of efforts to narrow the gap that characterizes the women-men, farmer/operator dichotomy, resulting in income and efficiency of resource use differences; and, viii. The concerns for the conservation of the environment and the sustainable use of ANR resources whose development currently draws heavily on land, forestry and water resources. Resolving these trade-offs and developing ANR sector on sustainable basis will be an important departure from traditional planning approaches and considerations.
The over-arching policy objective is the maximization of poverty reduction and the enhancement of food, nutrition and income securities through the optimal utilization of the resources consistent with the integrity of the environment. In specific terms, the objectives of the 2017 – 2026 ANR Policy are: i. To achieve higher level of production and productivity of primary commodities through rehabilitation, intensification and expansion of ANR production systems and processes; ii. To enhance higher level of expansion and development of the food industry sub-sector; iii. To achieve wider and more effective participation and representation of subsistence farmers/operators especially women and youth in modern and commercial production, agribusiness and trade; iv. To achieve a balanced development among the ANR sector and other sectors of the economy; and, v. To enhance the economic and structural integration of the ANR sector with the rest of the economy especially, manufacturing, tourism and hotel industries.
The realization of the underlying growth and developmental objectives of the over-arching objective of the ANR Policy (2017/2026) will be pursued through eight strategies: (i) optimizing resource use (land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship/management); (ii) integration and acceleration of agro-based industries; (iii) strengthening and enhancing research and development efforts and technology diffusion; (iv) greater investment and technological resources from the private sector; (v) reformed marketing strategy; (vi) expanded food production; (vii) human resources development; and (viii) development of viable self-reliant ANR institutions.
The structural transformation and rationalization of activities in the sub-sectors (Food and cash crops development; Livestock development; Fisheries development; Forestry sub-sector policy; Biodiversity/Parks and Wildlife Development; Water Resources and climate change; Environmental management) will be the main mechanisms for change. In addition there is a number of supporting policies/strategies that have been outlined for sustainable ANR sector development as well as a number of policies/strategies of a cross-cutting nature to the ANR.
The mitigation of the constraints to the realization of 2017/2026 ANR policy objectives (overall sector constraints; sub-sectoral specific constraints; and, institutional support services and system-wide constraints) will largely depend on the resolution of relatively few but key strategic policy issues. These are: a) access to production resources especially productivity improvement technologies to achieve the desired levels of production and productivity increases; b) developing input/output markets and marketing infrastructure appropriate to the needs of a widely dispersed small-scale resource-poor farmers; c) stimulating sustainable private sector investment in ANR to integrate the sector and manufacturing and tourism sectors; d) fostering a shared sense of responsibility for natural resources conservation; and, e) fostering a shared sense of understanding of the linkages among population growth, food supply and natural resource depletion and degradation.
The implementation mechanism of the ten-year policy requires that ANR stakeholders are effectively coordinated through an Inter-Ministerial Council with a rotating chairperson among the Three ministries (MOA, MECCNAR, and MOFWR). The needed technical support will be provided through the ANR Working Group (ANRWG) which is the technical working group for enhanced coordination of interventions in the ANR.