By Lama Jallow
Information Officer, MoYS
The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Wednesday inaugurated a new project steering committee (PSC) for the Gambia Songhai Initiative (GSI) one of the institutions under his Ministry,
In his inaugural statement, Minister Bakary Y. Badjie called on the stakeholders to be effective and efficient in working toward the objective of the centre, and implored them to continue supporting the project through the process to regain the GSI centre.
He disclosed that the whole objective of the project is to support young people and discourage irregular migration.
Honorable Badjie reminded the PSC that the overarching goal of the project is to sustainably reduce poverty, unemployment and food insecurity by tackling their root causes and deploying proven strategies for achieving sustainable youth development.
Lamin A. Camara, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Finance and Administration (DPS) at the Ministry doubles as the focal person of the project informed the committee members about PSC established since the inception in 2015 but not very active.
He gave a brief background of the project which he said started in 2015 and trained young people on modern techniques of Agriculture that developed against the growing need to transform the agricultural sector into a productive, efficient, sustainable and remunerative enterprise, especially among youth.
He reiterated that the ideal is in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) priority objectives of the government of the Gambia.
DPS Camara revealed that the ministry’s aim is to ensure youth employability through training, and gain meaningful employment, as there is an urgent need for the ministries and development partners to harmonize its activities to help the GSI project to generate maximum impact on the lives of Gambian youth
He quickly reassured the members of the ministry’s unflinching support to the PSC and the entire youth of the country.
Presenting on the activities of the project, Mamadou Ly, Technical Advisor of GSI gave a background history of the project and where it emanated from. He said the idea was first conceived by UNDP and MOYS in 2014.
When then Hon. Minister of MOYS and Madam Ade paid a visit to Songhai Regional Centre (SRC) in Port Novo –Benin Republic.
He asserted that in 2015 the first batch of trainees was sent to SRC for six months after the signing of five years institutional contract between the Government of The Gambia and SRC funded by UNDP.
He said it aimed to create young agricbusiness entrepreneurs to curb the growing youth migration through the backway.
Mr Ly informed the new PSC that the training duration of the centre is 12 months and during the training, students’ feeding, housing, minor medical expenses and a monthly stipend of one thousand dalasis (D1000) are provided by the government through the ministry and additional D1000 keep for them as saving every month till end of their training.
Ly told the new PSC that the training is on integrated farming system specialised in the following fields – Poultry production, Vegetable production, Small and Large Ruminant production, Agro-Forestry, and Soil Management.
Currently, he said they have enrolled the ninth batch of trainees and the primary objective is to promote inclusive agricultural sector growth and employment.
Aziz Balla Gaye of ministry of Trade focal person to GSI said maize has to be farmed in GSI since 60% of the poultry feed comes from maize.
He disclosed that the revenue from poultry should also be used to sustain the project, this suggested that the management should use the business plan provided by the consultant as a guide in planning how the project sustain itself.
About the Author
