(Photo Credit: Agfax) In September 2011, the World Future Council honoured The Gambia with the “Best forest policy award” |
Alhagie Basse Mboge of the
National Farmers Platform has said farmer platforms should be furnished with
the quarterly reports of the Agriculture and Natural Resource (ANR) Working Group in order to keep them up to date.
Mr Mboge was speaking at
Brikama on June 18 during a Forest Farm Facility, FFF, Meeting supported by the National
Environment Agency, the FAO and attended by ANR Working Group, the National
Farmers Platform and National Association of Farmers Credit Unions (NACOFAG).
He said that value addition
to products and services are very crucial in helping farmers to tap business
opportunities such as the supply of vegetables and other food stuff to local
hotels and international markets.
The FFF is a
five-year programme that aims to promote sustainable forest and farm management
by supporting local, regional, national and international organizations and
platforms for effective engagement in policies and investments that meet the
needs of local people.
Ousman Kebbeh of Gambia
Tourism Board (GTB) noted that every year approximately 348 million Dalasi is
spent on imports so as to meet the demands and in supplying vegetables to
hotels in The Gambia.
Mr. Kebbeh suggest devising
more innovative ways of collaborating and supporting farmer bodies to bridge
the gap of leakage in revenue lost in the importation of vegetables like
potatoes, onions and tomatoes.
Salmina Jobe, Senior
Programme Officer ANR at the NEA, the meeting is meant to form an all inclusive
ANR platform to strengthen cross-sector coordination on integrated approach to
land use and natural resource management.
The FFF will be coordinated by a small
management team hosted by the FAO in Rome, wherein, a National Steering
Committee in The Gambia will evaluate and refresh the vision, principles,
policies, strategies and basic activities of the Facility.
A Donors Support Group will develop
eligibility guidelines for selecting partners and criteria for grant applications.
During Tuesday’s meeting at the
Regional
Education Directorate in the West Coast Region, the
joint meeting concluded with the establishment of an “All inclusive Agriculture
and Natural Resources Platform” tasked to do the following:
“To ensure the
implementation of the decentralization of land tenure to local producers groups
and forest communities;
“To create mechanism for decentralized
policy dialogue and feedback; and
“Strengthening of cross-sectoral
coordination on ANR.”
The newly established ANR
Platform then developed an operational plan for next month - which includes a
nationwide field trip to assess the implementation of ANR Sector related
policies at grass-root level, publication of news paper articles on FFF and awareness
raising talk shows on the national and FM Radios.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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