The Gambia and Senegal are working to resolve outstanding border issues that have prevented some farmers from accessing their farmlands, Foreign Affairs Minister Sering Modou Njie has said.
Njie made the remarks in an interview with West Coast Radio, saying authorities from both countries had agreed that farmers should be allowed to access their fields and continue farming while outstanding border matters are addressed through established bilateral mechanisms.
“Now what is left is to allow our farmers from both countries to have access to their farmlands and continue their farming,” Njie said.
He said the concerns of affected farmers were among the issues discussed during his recent visit to Dakar, noting that cross-border farming was common, with Gambian farmers cultivating land in Senegal and Senegalese farmers doing the same in The Gambia.
Njie said the discussions followed recent tensions along the border, including the July 16 demolition by Senegalese forces of part of a perimeter wall around Gambian military installations.
According to the minister, President Adama Barrow instructed Gambian security forces to exercise maximum restraint following the incident.
The Gambian government subsequently engaged Senegalese authorities, stressing that border disputes should be resolved through dialogue and established bilateral mechanisms rather than military action, he said.
Njie said the national boundary commissions of the two countries, operating under the supervision of the Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat, had agreed to meet in Banjul to address outstanding issues.
He stressed that The Gambia and Senegal maintained longstanding cooperation in defence and security, trade, education, culture and diplomacy, and said the border dispute should be resolved without undermining those relations.
Njie expressed optimism that the understandings reached between the two governments would enable affected farmers on both sides of the border to return to their fields and resume agricultural activities.
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