Gambia: Small country with a big crisis

There is mounting concern that The Gambia, Africa’s smallest country, could face yet another shortfall in the 2012/2013 agricultural season in the production of rice, millet, maize and groundnuts, the main crops, crippling its efforts to become food secure. The planting season has begun, yet there is a huge seed deficit. 'It is essential that farmers receive quality drought-tolerant seeds, as well as fertilizer and other production support by the end of May 2012 to start their next production campaign,' said Sonia Nguyen, a spokesperson for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Sahel.