Gambia is Good

The Gambia is one of the least developed countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 60% of the population living below the poverty line, three quarters of which are engaged in agriculture. Though winter tourism is a major export, much of the economic value has historically been captured by Western-owned tour operators, airlines and hotels, with few backward linkages and very little trickling down to local food producers.

Gambia is Good (GiG) is a fresh produce marketing company which was conceived as a partnership between Haygrove and Concern Universal (CU) (see http://www.concern-universal.org), a leading development charity, with the purpose of linking small scale rural producers with the high value tourist market. Seed funding for the venture was secured from the Department for International Development (DFID) Business Link Challenge Fund (BLCF) (see http://www.businesslinkageschallengefund.org) and from an investment of Haygrove's annual profits.

With CU's network of local partners and Haygrove's commercial acumen, GiG has been able to inspire entrepreneurship at community level and deliver a marketing service which is of equal value to producers and buyers alike. Since it started trading in 2004 the business has come a long way and now collects from more than 1000 farmers, supplying 20 tonnes of produce per tourist-season-month to more than 40 hotels and restaurants.