By Mariam Saine
In Wassu village of the Central River Region North (CRR-North), lives an alum of ELIT 2016 camp, Mr. Saikou Njie.
Introduced to the Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Information Technology (ELIT) by the Global Youth Innovation Network Gambia Chapter (GYIN Gambia Chapter) Central River Region North (CRR North) Regional Coordinator, Mr. Musa Bah, the Wassu gardener-turned-rice grower was lucky to be part of the summer camp’s first batch in 2016.
“ELIT exposed me to be able to create an email account and be communicating with my friends using the social media,” he said.
He indicated that before he was opportune to attend the ELIT National Youth Summer Camp, he owned a garden, but as the weather wouldn’t be favorable to him during the dry season, he varied his production.
Njie explained: “During the dry season, I faced many difficulties in my garden. I decided to change my business to rice cultivation using the knowledge I gained at ELIT because I have seen agriculture as business.”
According to him, he was inspired by the success stories of his colleagues during the ELIT programme, adding he learned from them that cultivating rice in the dry season “is easier than in rainy season.”
On the challenges faced, he said he needs farm inputs on time for harvesting. As Njie explained, he ventured into rice cultivation since 2016 after inheriting it (the field) from his family, but he actually started its commercialization after the ELIT programme.
He further reported: “Apart from ELIT, I have attended training in Brikamaba organized by the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema)/the Building Resilience against Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS) Income Generating Activities for Women and Youth training in 2016.”
From the 150 applicants, Njie said he was lucky to be among the 32 selected participants to be enrolled in 6 months Start-Up Incubator Agripreneurs programme funded by P2RS project.
He also attended the Rural Entrepreneurial Venture Creation Experimental Learning (REVCEL) training organized by GYIN Gambia in 2015.
Refreshing his life history, he explained that he was not lucky to complete his schooling as he dropped out at grade 9 and lost his father since 1993.
He, therefore complimented GYIN Gambia for paving the way for him to bridge the gap that he missed.
From Left: Saikou Njie, Jainaba Ceesay, Admin. Sec GYIN Gambia and Mamadou Edrisa Njie, Executive Director of GYIN Gambia Chapter at the Wassu rice fields
