By Mamadou Edrisa Njie
The Minister of Agriculture (MoA), Hon. Amie Fabureh on Thursday, 20 June, 2019, officiated the launching of National Seed Plan at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi.
This important event was organized by the National Seed Secretariat (NSS) under the Ministry of Agriculture with support from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (F.A.O) Banjul office- www.fao.org/world/gambia-through the European Union (EU) funded project called “Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security/Nutrition”, to mitigate Migration flows.
The National Seed Plan was developed to promote production, availability and utilization of quality seed that would improve agricultural productivity and contribute to economic growth of The Gambia.
The Agriculture Ministry boss intimated that quality seeds constitute a prime prerequisite in agriculture and the basis of agricultural productivity, which is critically important to the government of The Gambia, since the national economy and food and nutrition security depend on a successful local agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture has long pursued the establishment of seed industry structures, policy and programmes that would support the Gambia’s agriculture, as Fabureh told the launch audience.
Dilating on the background information, the minister recalled that the National Seed effort commenced in earnest as far back as the 1970’s when the Seed Technology Unit (STU) was formed as part of the National Research Institute (NARI).
She enlightened that the STU went through series of transformation which resulted to the birth of the National Seed Plan 2019 with supports from F.A.O, World Bank and recently the EU, all with a view to attaining seed industry structures that would support a modern and productive agriculture.
Lamenting the fact that the country is yet to progress into a substantive seed industry, Fabureh informed the gathering that the launching of the National Seed Plan would serve as an instrument to address the aspirations of Gambian farmers.
The European Union Programme Manager, Mr. Darrell Sexstone was on hand to address the ceremony. He disclosed that at the start of 2017, the EU took the decision to allocate 20.5 MEUR from the 11th European Development Fund to The Gambia for a programme entitled, “Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security/ National to mitigate Migration.
The EU official further told the gathering that the D1.2 billion programme is self-contained and has three components, namely Agriculture for Economic Growth, World Food Programme (WPF) School meals and disaster risks Management, and Non-Governmental Organisations support to the overall programme.
According to him, the principal aim of the programme is to create growth and employment opportunities, in particular for women and youth, through improved agricultural productivity as well as access to food, whilst at the same time increasing most vulnerable smallholders’ participation in agricultural value chains. Sexstone said it recognizes that there’s a need to enhance agriculture and food security information, and also improve crises management and prevention to build resilience in rural communities.
“In doing so, the programme is expected to reduce migration flows especially to the EU,” he said, noting that the project is being carried out in North Bank Region (NBR), Central River Region (CRR), Lower River Region (LRR) and Upper River Region (URR).
The Director General of the Gambia National Seed Secretariat, Morro Manga, FAO Representative in The Gambia, Dr. Perpetua Katepa-Kalala and Dr. Kwame Miezan of the Africa Seeds Programme also spoke at the launch ceremony. The Deputy Director of Agriculture, Mr. Sarian Jobarteh delivered the vote of thanks.
