Kiang Farmers blame Rural-Urban Migration for low Rice Production.

Rice growers in  Kiang expressed concerns that more people are relocating to the Greater Banjul Area, which is adversely affecting rice production.
They expressed confidence that the high cost of rice could be stabilized if more people stayed in the villages to farm.
In an interview with this medium,
women farmers in Kiang said the mass production of rice has reduced largely due to rural-urban migration.
Aja Mbee Drammeh of Kiang Jali said their parents used to produce enough rice, which normally sustains the entire family for the whole year, but stressed that most young women and youths who assist the elderly on the fields moved to the Kombos for greener pastures.
Kaddy Njie stated that they had no choice but to demand imported rice for home consumption.
” Everybody wants to move to the Greater Banjul Area. Our natives bought compounds and relocated with their families to the Kombos. Only a few are engaged in rice cultivation”
According to some young people we interacted with, Agric projects trained some youths, but most of those people left for the Kombos and Backway Journey to Europe.
At a Sankadi in Kiang West, women told this medium that rice cultivation has declined.
” The projects are doing their quota, but the human resources is the challenge. More people are moving to the Brikama and Serrekunda to stay with their relatives.” Sally Darboe said
Rice cultivation was primarily the duty of women while the men concentrated on the farms, according to Fenda Bajo.