There is need for the Ministry of Trade, Employment and Regional Integration and the Food Safety and Quality Authority (FSQA) to jointly do a study of the easily perishable food items that are imported into The Gambia and give warning to importers of the possibility of importing food items that are not fit for human consumption. A preventive approach is the best means to prevent food scarcity.
Foroyaa has been examining and assessing the dependency of the country on imported food items, especially perishable vehitables. Gambians would recall that the flour which was deemed by FSQA to be unfit for human consumption was kept but according to FSQA, was eventually re-exported to Mauritania as animal feed.
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How would one prevent the same item leaking into the Gambian market? Hence the Ministry of Trade and FSQA should prepare a joint monitoring system so that food considered to be unfit for human consumption would be jointly kept under lock and key and destroyed to prevent slippages into the Gambian market. Maximum effort should be made to become self sufficient to meet our food requirements.