By Yero S. Bah
The National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI), in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), had started a two-week Agro-food processing and capacity building training programmes for 85 rural youths in the Lower River Region (LRR) of the Gambia.
In an exclusive interview with Mansa Banko Online on Wednesday, July 08, 2020, the General Manager (GM) of NEDI, Mr. Abbas Bah shed more light on the undertakings. He said it’s a joint partnership with the “Make it in The Gambia-Tekki Fii project implemented by GIZ and funded by the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), to help equip youths in LRR with food processing techniques and methods.
NEDI handles the agro-entrepreneurship aspect of the training whilst the food processing training is handled by two resource persons from Germas Food, who have food processing skills training capacity in the Gambia, disclosed GM Bah. He outlined that the project aims to train them on how to process raw pepper into finished pepper sauce, mango into mango juice or mango squash as well as processing cereals into complementary food. The training, he added, would equip the trainees with skills on how to process, package and brand food into finished products which could stay for one year without perishing.
Bah said the training started on June 30 and will end by July 20, 2020, saying the key target of the project is to build capacity and provide financial support to these trainees so as to start their own food processing businesses after the training.
The NEDI GM explained the recruitment process was online and forms were also distributed to various regional youth centers; that the entire process was transparent and open to all eligible youths in the targeted region of LRR as the project targets youths below the ages of 35 years old.
The project, which is fully financed by GIZ and implemented by NEDI, as Bah further informed, is running the training in LRR because they have realized there is a gap in food processing in the country, especially in rural areas where food producers such as women and youths stand to lose lots of perishable produce due to lesser food processors in the Gambia. He is positive that if food processing skills are inculcated in youths, it could potentially help the economic growth of the country, noting that local entrepreneurs are playing vital roles in the local economy.
Pointing out that neighboring countries are processing mangos into finished products and selling them in the Gambia, the NEDI senior official charged that Gambian youths could also apply the same or similar methods to process pepper, mango or cereals into finished products to earn better living in this country. “Lana Juice is mango juice processed in our neighboring countries,” he cited as an example.
He encouraged that the establishment and promotion of such products are not difficult to process, and that they are healthy drinks and could minimize the importation of foreign drinks provided support is given to youths in this areas. Bah said it could also bring employment opportunities to Gambians, as well as generate tax revenue for the state.
The General Manager of the youth enterprise initiative finally thanked the government of the Gambia for creating the enabling environment for youth entrepreneurship to flourish, as he equally applauded the laudable assistance from their development partners. He stressed they are playing a pivotal role in the development of entrepreneurship in the Gambia.
