Category Archives: Gambia
Gambia : Domoda or groundnut stew
When I lived in The Gambia in the 1980s in a rural village, we ate Domoda most days, without meat. This groundnut stew is a staple diet for Mandinka people. It is a rather runny peanut sauce poured over millet or locally grown ‘cracked rice’. The base of the sauce is peanut butter made from ground peanuts (groundnuts). Shredded meat is often added but in our village meat was only available at celebrations like baptisms and weddings, and only very little of it was given to the women.
Recipe for Domoda
Here’s my recipe for it from my old Gambian cookbook
1 Kilo beef
250gms peanut butter
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1 large onion
4 medium size bitter tomatoes (‘jakato’)
8 medium size okra
250 gms pumpkin
Juice of 2 lemons
Maggi cubes
Seasoning
1/2 kilo rice
1 litre water
Cut the meat into cubes and wash
Fry meat in a thick bottom pan in hot fat until sealed and cooked and add tomato puree.
Add water and seasoning
Boil 20 minutes and reduce heat.
Add the peanut butter, chopped onion, lemon juice
Bring to the boil for 10 mins stirring continuously.
Reduce heat right down and simmer 45 mins.
While the stew is cooking boil the rice and in another pan boil bitter tomato, okra and pumpkin until tender, put these aside and keep warm.
Serve Domoda sauce poured over the rice and garnish with the cooked vegetables.
I have found a number of recipes for it online:
Domoda by WikiTravel.org
Suggested Books
Gambia : Radio initiative against malaria
Malaria radio programmes
In many African countries radio programmes have proved to be a great way of communicating health issues to people. In The Gambia, a 26 episode radio series called Bolongodala (beside the river) has been produced.
Bolongodala – Gambia
Initiated by the Centre for Innovation Against Malaria (CIAM) Public Health Research & Development Centre in The Gambia, the 26-episode Bolongodala radio drama series was broadcast in Mandinka, the most widely spoken national language in Gambia. The drama, complemented by radio phone-in programmes and listeners’ groups, was designed to disseminate key messages on malaria control and prevention, such as promoting preventive health practices, in particular the use of insecticide treated nets to prevent
malaria.
To read more about it please look at the item on the Communication Initiative Network, where you will also find links to summaries about the programme and related reports.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/283629/376
Africa paper : Employment-centred Development Strategy for Poverty Reduction in The Gambia
Poverty reduction in The Gambia
Towards an Employment-centred Development Strategy for Poverty Reduction in The Gambia: Macroeconomic and Labour Market Aspects
According to the authors, growth in Gambia has not been pro-poor. Weak productivity and the low quality of employment explain why. They recommend policies to increase the supply of credit to the economy, particularly to employment-intensive sectors.
Abstract:
This paper reviews the growth, employment, and poverty record of The Gambia focusing on the macroeconomic environment and the structure and functioning of labour markets. Its aim is to identify areas where current policies can be improved or where more knowledge needs to be generated to better inform inclusive development strategies. The growth pattern of The Gambia does not appear to be pro-poor, as improvements in the rate of growth appear to have at best halted the spread of poverty. Weak productivity performance and the low quality of employment help explain the poverty record. On the macroeconomic side, an excessive emphasis on inflation reduction and reliance on monetary policy instruments that have helped sustain a high-interest rate environment, which discourages investment and employment creation. As part of an alternative policy package, The Gambia could reformulate macroeconomic policies to target growth instead of inflation, select a more effective mix of policy instruments, and pursue financial reforms to increase the supply of credit to the economy and particularly to employment-intensive activities. In addition, targeted public investments are essential for sustaining more rapid growth and improvements in employment opportunities. A review of the available evidence suggests that labour markets in The Gambia do not function in a way conducive to poverty reduction. The employment situation conforms to the typical configuration, whereby traditional activities and informality dominate rural and urban areas. The Gambia also faces high open unemployment rates in cities, particularly among the youth. Measures to increase the labour mobility of the poor are urgently needed. The Gambia has benefited from a rapid increase in literacy and basic education, although more progress is needed to improve the quality of education and, particularly, to provide comprehensive training that adequately meets the demand for skilled labour. Finally, there is an urgent need to overhaul labour institutions with the aim of improving labour conditions, reducing labour segmentation and improving knowledge systems.
Africa Food Gambia : Caldou Recipe
Gambia cookbook
As part of our moving house and settling back into the UK I’ve finally unpacked boxes which have lain dormant in other people’s garages and lofts for over 10 years. One of the things I was pleased to find was my Gambia cookbook from over 20 years ago. I’ll start posting some of my favourite recipes from that on here.
Here is the recipe for Caldou, a traditional dish of the Jola Foni people who are rice growers. Rock bass is the most abundant fish in the Foni lakes and creeks. Caldou is reputed to give the Jola their physical fitness for which they are renowned.
Caldou recipe
4 large fish (traditionally rock bass)
teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 large onion (shredded)
100 mls water
2 lemons
seasoning
1 bayleaf
Scale and wash and clean the fish. Place in cooking pan. Add water and the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to very low and cook covered until fish is cooked.
Serve with boiled rice