Gambia: Gambian Women Bring Cotton Back From Farm to Cloth

What the report says

Women in The Gambia’s Central River Region are helping revive cotton production by growing, spinning and weaving the crop into marketable goods and culturally important items, according to Bird Story Agency’s report published by AllAfrica. The effort is being led through Women Initiative Gambia (WIG) and Reforest Future The Gambia in and around Njau village, where participants make products such as wrappers, shirts, bags, tablecloths and book covers.

The article says the project has trained women across several parts of the cotton value chain, including planting, weaving, design and marketing. It also reports that the initiative has supported more than 50 women in some way, with about 40 cultivating land at the centre. Some finished items are sold to tourists visiting the centre, while participants say the work helps them earn income, reduce the cost of buying cotton for ceremonies and preserve traditions tied to naming events, marriages and funerals.

The report places the project in the wider context of cotton’s decline in The Gambia after earlier decades when it was a major rural cash crop. It cites past reports showing steep production losses and notes that national policy now includes cotton among sectors targeted for support through training, equipment and finance for small enterprises and women-owned businesses.

Researchers and agricultural officials quoted in the article say the revival could support jobs, local skills and reduced dependence on imported textiles, though participants still face practical constraints such as limited machinery and physically demanding farm work.