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| Photo Credit: IFAD-Afrique |
The governor of Lower River
Region, LRR, Lamin D. Darboe has challenge the Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP) to consider the plight of the farmers and
ensure that their livelihoods are improved.
The PIWAMP concluded a three-day (14 -16 Jan. 2013)
annual stakeholder’s consultative forum held at the Agricultural Rural Farmer
Training Centre in Jenoi, LRR.
A forum, Mr Darboe said is
geared towards reducing poverty through maximization of crop productivity to
enhanced house hold food security for the Gambian people.
He urges participants to
identify the short comings and come up with tangible solutions to address them.
The PIWAMP-organised forum was
attended by about 110 participants including agricultural extension workers,
with an objective to review PIWAMP’s 2012 project activities, constrains and
achievements.
It was also meant to strike a
way forward to addressing some of the constraints faced by farmers and how to
maximize agricultural productivity.
Falalo Touray,
deputy director general of agriculture challenged agricultural extension
workers to remain committed. He said they must ensure agriculture is well
improved to meet the demands of an increasing population.
Momodou Lamin
Gassama, project coordinator PIWAMP, said the International Fund forAgricultural Development, IFAD-funded project was formulated to integrate all
major players on the ground for sustainable use of “our land resources” to
overcome poverty and achieve household food security.
PIWAMP project,
which succeeded the Lowland Agricultural Development Project (1997 – 2005) as a
development strategy of the lowland ecologies is aimed at increasing rice
production and household food security in The Gambia.
The PIWAMP project,
phasing-out in 2013, registered successes in the areas of capacity building and
construction of causeways and foot bridges, dykes and spillways, inter village
road improvement, gully plugs and contour bunds, agro forestry, livestock
watering points, development and production of village and site maps among
others.
Environmental
monitoring and crop data collection are two activities critical to the project
implementation which has been successfully implemented by National
Environmental Agency and Planning Services Unit respectively, Mr Gassama noted.
To make better
impact, a sub component under the PIWAMP project called Sustainable Land
Management Project (SLMP) component of the project was formulated, with key
objectives of establishing the National and Regional SLM Secretariat that will
harmonize and coordinate all land management issues for the first time.
Written by Modou S. Joof
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