Our environment is precious and vital to the existence of plants and animals, including human beings.  

Therefore, the aim of this article is to raise the awareness of the public including young Gambians, future leaders in the school system, on the importance of conserving our fragile environment, while performing our most needed agricultural and other activities in the country.

The Environment and Agriculture
Concept Chart
It is also essential for teachers to make students and parents recognise the achievements made on the educational, political and economic sectors of the country.  Students should be motivated to admire and imitate some members of the community, especially, the media sector, for the contribution they are making as creative thinkers in our environment on information sharing to make The Gambia a well informed society.

The information to be given on the environment and agricultural activities might be helpful but it is not complete and perfect in itself.  It is likely that some information is subject to being obsolete especially in the field of agriculture which is subject to extensive research and experimental work.

The author therefore wishes to appeal to his fellow teachers to improve on teaching techniques that are environmentally friendly for the benefit of the whole country.  Needless to say, some information might not apply in certain places and circumstances, especially in a country like The Gambia with its numerous ecological zones.  Therefore, teachers are called upon to use their initiative and to improvise the information of this subject and other subjects so that they fit their situations.

The social and economic development of our environment is also important for our survival.  What is this environment?  It is the land in which we live, consisting of things all around us, the soil, the air, residential, farming and industrial areas; we can smell, feel and observe them.  Therefore we should understand them and must be motivated to conserve them if we want to live in peace and in harmony with our environment.

Since the 22nd July 1994 Revolution, The Gambian environment has witnessed the beginning of enormous changes in gains and developments registered in our society, in education, health, agriculture and sports/football as well as other sectors in government machinery.  We have seen many talents in our society or environment proving themselves without doubt that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with in the media and academic fields.

The author is encouraged by the many books written by other Gambians which are of very high standard and are relevant for use in our schools and communities.  Some of the authors have addressed areas which serve as reference material for prosperity.  Never before has there been a proliferation of authors coming coming forward to contribute to the academic development of the media and education in The Gambia.  The government headed by President Jammeh, a visionary leader, hard-working and committed, has encouraged all sectors of the environment to participate on their own to the development of our motherland.

A decade of socio - economic achievements of the APRC within the past fourteen years is indisputable in Gambian history and government is poised to do more to empower its citizens.  Therefore, teachers should be commended for informing students and their parents on the concern and contributions that  government and its partners are making in the conservation of our beautiful physical features and wild life.  The Gambia has a perfect climate with beaches on the coastline.  The blue Atlantic Ocean along the coast is mild and calm. Swimming, sailing and fishing are interesting in The Gambia and perfectly safe.  The many hotels stretching along the whole length of the Gambian coastline are luxurious and friendly.

Photography, bird watching and fishing in the River Gambia and stream areas are hobbies which can be enjoyed by all Gambians, tourists, and other visitors.  Game parks and reserves like Abuko Nature Reserve are vast areas that have been allocated to animals for people to see the greatest variety of wild life.  Many of these reserves are situated in different ecologies of the country, so that all creatures, big and small, are given a safe home.

Teachers should appeal to students to be partners in development to help in the conservation of our wild life and physical features of the natural beauty in the environment, not only for future Gambians but for other people visiting the country.
The teaching in schools to conserve the beautiful country sides and the practices of practical agriculture that is environmentally friendly is essential and therefore should be given high priority in government policy directives, making sure that the environment which contains the air we breathe, the soil plants grow and the animals depend on proper conservation for the survival of these plants and animals in which we also depend.

To be able to measure farm land areas and calculate farm production on profit and losses, students should be taught agricultural tables on weights and measures, formulae of areas, volume and temperature conversion for profitable agricultural practices on food production from crops and animals in the field.

Nevertheless, the establishment of a farm in the environment means to many people in the Gambia the complete removal of all the existing plant and animal life and the misuse of other natural resources found in the farming environment.  In many developing countries, many people suffer from the effects of over doses of harmful chemicals, fertilisers, insecticides and some herbicide which usually eliminate beneficial insects and soil organisms such as honey bees and earth worms.  Teachers should therefore raise the awareness of pupils and parents to recognise these environmental problems.

Gambians should avoid making the same mistake that highly industrialised countries have made, that is polluting the environment by the industrial wastes of factories and by their highly mechanised agricultural practices with heavy machines that can upset the eco-system.  The world attention is on The Ivory Coast where harmful chemical waste dumping was done. Gambians should therefore be watchful and avoid the same to happen in our own environment.  These awful activities endanger the lives of plants and animals.

Students should be taught that biological control methods of plant diseases/pests are now replacing the use of harmful chemicals in our environment for the control of diseases.
Insects such as the ladybird beetle feeds on aphid which are carriers of a plant disease on groundnuts known as Bacteria Wilt.  The provision of composts and animal dung as a form of organic manure which are environmentally friendly should be applied by the farmers to replace the dangerous and expensive chemical fertilisers when producing food so as to avoid destroying the environment.  

This will produce chemical fertilisers when producing food so as to avoid destroying the environment. We can clean our nation with our limited resources and collective efforts.  Thanks to President Jammeh for encouraging and motivating Gambians to clean their environment by introducing “Operation Clean the Nation”, a monthly exercise and campaign in which people from all works of life voluntarily and actively participate in order to live in a healthy environment.

Due to the farming and commercial activities that people perform in our environment, we cannot stop riding cars, trucks or use heavy machinery in farming which are not environmentally friendly but where possible, we can minimise the use of these machines and ride more of bicycles or even walk when the destination is not too far.  This is environmentally friendly and good for our health.  To conserve our rich soil we must avoid exposing our rich top soil to be eroded by running water or strong wind. Soil erosion by water or wind reduces the soil fertility and therefore reduces crop yields.
Hoeing can be done between the rows of growing crops in the farm to prevent grass or weeds competing with crop plants for plant nutrients.  This practice of hoeing in the farm also aerates the soil for the benefit of useful bacterial in the soil.

In the countryside, outside the farm, particularly in residential areas, the grass should be cut short and not hoeing in order to prevent top soil erosion.  Ornamental flowers and fruit trees should be planted around farms to serve as windbreaks and around residential and commercial areas as landscaping for beauty.  Flowering trees in the environment are good for honey bees which are partners in crop production, with other beneficial insects and birds.  Trees also help to moderate environmental temperature, provide shelter, shade, medicine and food for animals and human beings.

During the author’s teaching career he interacted with young Gambians in primary and secondary schools, demonstrating agricultural knowledge and skills that are environmentally friendly, improvising and using available local material in school for agricultural practices for food production in schools.

Among these skills were home made liquid organic fertiliser from dry cow dung and water and the other one was on he control of bacteria wilt on tomatoes using collected dry grass and fire by sterilising the soil around the bed.

Teachers should make students aware of the fact that the environment to be conserved belongs to them and therefore, it is the responsibility of all to take part in the protection and conservation of our environment in order to reverse the current trend of land degradation in the Gambia. The people should never fail in their obligation to conserve the environment for our benefit and survival and for generations yet unborn.

 Human activities that are not environmentally friendly beyond our Gambian borders are also causing environmental disasters like global warming, flooding and other world natural disasters which spread diseases and inflict human suffering to many communities.  The author hopes that Gambians will learn from these calamities and try to seek a long lasting solution to the problem of sustaining our fragile environment.