In a bid to avert leakage in the distribution of fertiliser, the Ministry of Agriculture would now be digitally registration of all the farmers who benefit from government fertiliser distribution.
To make this digitisation possible, the Rice Value Chain Transformation Project (RVCTP) of the Ministry of Agriculture has procured and donated 60 tablets to the Department of Planning of the said ministry.
The tablets, handed over to the Department on 29th March 2023, cost about US$3.5 million. They are earmarked to enhance data collection, storage, processing and analysis to capture production and productivity information for the rice value chain.
The equipment were procured through an additional funding to the Rice Value Chain Transformation Project by the African Development Bank through the African Emergency Food Production Facility.
Sana Mendy, the project director, said the digital registering farmers who benefit from fertiliser would help avert any potential leakage that could happen in the distribution process.
The tablets, he said, were included as part of the request by the Government of The Gambia to AfDB to help deal with the impact of the Ukraine war. Part of the request was to purchase fertiliser and subsidise farmers.
“The tablets will help in collecting data, and registering each farmer countrywide,” he said.
Francis Mendy, Director of Planning at the Planning Department, commended the Rice Value Chain Transformation Project for the tablets, saying the equipment will be put into judicious use.
“The Department of Planning has over the years been battling with challenges in terms of data collection due to inadequate equipment like tablets or smartphones,” he explained, adding that this challenge has affected the transition of the department from paper-based data collection into electronic.
Mr Mendy reiterated that the 60 tablets will go a long way in reducing the data collection challenges of the Department.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Hassan Jallow, said the African Emergency Food Facility is the Africa Department Bank’s newly approved rapid response framework to address food crisis and disruption of the supply of critical inputs for food production arising from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
