The effects of government policies on cereal consumption pattern change in the Gambia

This paper examines the effects of agricultural policies in the Gambia since independence from Great Britain in 1965. Under the two governments that have ruled the country since then, the People's Progressive Party (PPP) led by Dawda Jawara (1965-1994) and the Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC) led by Yahya Jammeh, the country has shown little to no growth in agricultural productivity. Moreover, recent policy changes, beginning in the 1980s, resulted in marked shifts in cereal consumption patterns. Rice, which has been the staple food for the past century, but is mainly imported, has been surpassed by locally grown millet as the most heavily consumed cereal in the country as a whole. However, this change is unlikely to lead to future food security as long as the failure to implement long-term agricultural development strategies by the current APRC regime continues.