Promoting Agricultural Value Chains:
In the OIC Member Countries
92
Centre Annual Report, 2013). As regards exports, aflatoxin is identified as one of the key
barriers to profitable market access. The EU, for instance, as the main export destination of
Gambian groundnuts, has stringent rules on aflatoxin levels (15 ppb for groundnuts intended
at further processing and 4 ppb for nuts for direct consumption), which are often not met by
Gambian exports. As a result, Gambian groundnuts suffer from prices discounted by between
65-70 percent on the international market (Colley, 2013).
Different projects are currently under way to ameliorate this situation. Funded by the EU West
African Quality Program, in 2011 the Gambia set up the Gambia Standards Bureau to
standardise methods, processes and products (both imported and locally produced). The
programme also works on strengthening three quality testing labs to apply for international
accreditation. At this stage, however, the Gambia does not have accredited laboratories for
quality control, forcing exporters to send samples to buyers in Europe to test the groundnuts
before they can be exported.
Supported by the World Bank, the Gambia Standards Bureau elaborated and adopted a Quality
Assurance Framework for Groundnuts. Control points should be established, processing
centres should be HACCP accredited and especially at the level of producers aflatoxin can be
prevented and reduced. However, the Bureau lacks funding for full implementation (Colley,
2013).
At the producer level, the International Trade Centre, together with the ASPA, trains farmers
on good agricultural practices and quality enhancement to reduce aflatoxin levels to
international standards. Generally, however, it has been noted that the problem of aflatoxin
persists due to inadequate research and development, and limited agricultural extension
services to support producers (GoG, 2012).
5.4.3 Infrastructure and logistics
The Gambia’s groundnut sector is characterised by poor infrastructural conditions. Processing
equipment and storage facilities are inadequate, and transportation costs from the farm gate to
buying and processing centres are high (GoG, 2012).
Support is mainly coming from international donors. For instance, the International Islamic
Trade Finance Corporation granted a US$ 14 million non-interest bearing loan to upgrade and
modernize the Gambia Groundnut Corporation (GCC) and its processing facilities. The African
Development Fund (AfDB) is financing the construction of the Trans-Gambian Corridor, an
economic and strategic link connecting the northern and southern parts of the Gambia and
Senegal that currently are characterised by several barriers like, check points, long customs
procedures, non-reliable ferries across the Gambia River, and poor road conditions.
Transaction costs are high, hindering national and regional trade (Africa Development Fund,
2013).
5.4.4 Governance and value chain actors
The Gambia has about 100,000-120,000 ha under cultivation planted with groundnuts (Colley,
2013). Production rests entirely on smallholder farmers with less than 10 ha of land; there are
no commercial plantations (WTO, 2004). Groundnut cultivation provides an important source
of income to an estimated 57,000 producers, which equals over 80 percent of the country’s
agricultural households (National Planning Commission, 2015). Groundnut producers are