By Mama A.Touray
ActionAid International on Tuesday brought together stakeholders to brainstormed how to help promote Agro-Ecology and Eco-Restoration in south, central and north banks of the country.
Omar Badji, Executive Director ActionAid The Gambia said the project started in 2018 and is in its last year of implementation and it is funded by the European Union.
He commended EU, N.A.T.C and government through the ministries of Agriculture and Environment for the useful collaboration and urging that this partnership be sustained over the long term with a view to protect the environment for improving the production and productivity.
”We have as one of our priorities; To ensure resilience of communities to climate change and attain food security, climate justice and comprehensive disaster prevention through the agency of people living in poverty,” he said.
”The Agro-Ecology, Eco Restoration and resilience Building Project is one intervention which we hope will greatly contribute towards the promotion of sustainable agriculture and control over natural resources as well as enhance lives and livelihoods of the poor,” he added.
According to him, the harsh conditions in the rural areas make farming difficult and less attractive and greatly contribute to the push factor of migration.
It therefore critical that in our policy development these issues are put into account so that they can be adequately addressed with the view to create a conducive environment for the youths to stay home and engage in agricultural activities
Dr Saikou Sanyang, who spoke on behalf of the minister of Agriculture said ”Climate change is a global issue that is affecting agriculture in terms of increasing production and productivity especially small holder farmers, adding that in the past years food production is declining as a result of poor rainfall and soil health is affected due to the shortage of rainfall.
”For the first time in the history of this country windstorm has killed about the lives of eleven people in the Gambia and I want to tell ActionAid that the promotion of Agro ecology and eco system restoration practices have been implemented at North Bank Region of the Gambia” he said.
Babucarr Zaidou Jallow, official the from minister of environment said: ”Around the world, and particularly in African countries already suffering from poverty, the looming menace of climate change poses an additional and increasingly prominent threat to achieving and sustaining development our development agenda. If left unchecked, the effects of climate change and environmental degradation further compound other socio-economic drivers or become additional security risks.
