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By Momodou Kanteh information Officer
The Minister for Agriculture has paid tribute to women in Jalambere and Pakalinding in Jarra for their dedication and commitment to rice production in the region. She said if every Gambian woman emulates these women in Jarra the country would soon attain self-food and nutrition sufficiency.
Honorable Amie Fabureh made this observation on Saturday while on a nationwide tour. In her day one of the tour, the Minister visited two rice fields in Jarra (Jalanbere and Pakalinding). The Minister said almost every household in the Gambia eats rice on a daily bases, thus she observed that there is a need to intensive rice production in the country. She pointed out that His Excellency President Adama Barrow and his government has agriculture as a priority and an important sector.
“In the past you have seen that the Ministry of Agriculture provided farm machinery, equipment and inputs and in the near future you will see more of these,” the Minister told the women in Jarra. “She continues; government is heavily subsidizing fertilizer in this country. President Barrow wants this sector to develop and we will do everything possible to achieve that.” Hon. Fabureh stated that the Ministry of Agriculture is looking at ways to ensure that farming in the Gambia is diversified and commercialized and up scaled.
Sira Trawalley a woman leader in Jalanbereh said her group is very grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture for the support. She said they are happy that the Minister has taken time to visit them on their farm.
The director of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), Dr. Demba Jallow for agriculture to strive in the country the women folks need to be empowered. He advised women to ensure that they (women) select and keep seeds from their produce for the next farming season. “The covid-19 has affected everybody around the world, thus it is important to keep seeds of your own for next cropping season,” the NARI boss told the women in Jarra Pakalinding.
The Governor of Lower River Region Rohey John-Manjang called on the women to make best use of the opportunities availed by the government. She pointed out that fertilizers and seeds were given to most farmers in the Gambia for free, which the governor said is a rear opportunity.
The Program Manager of the National Women Finance Association, (NAWFA) Fatou Samba urged the women to continue working hard on their quest to provide food for their families. She said there are so many opportunities available to farmers in the Gambia and urged the women to endeavor to register with NAWFA and other Farmer Associations.
The honorable Minister also visited two groundnuts farms in Tankular and Jifine in Kiang West and East. And also a women garden in Tankular also was visited by honorable Fabureh were she donated assorted vegetable seeds.