The Africa Emergency Locust Project (AELP), Gambia Office, last Thursday, January, 10th, 2008, launched the Crop Loss Compensation  Programme targeting 230 villages  affected by the 2004/05 locust invasion at Kanilai village in the Foni Kansala District of the Western Region.
The event also witnessed the distribution of agricultural items such as  vegetable seeds, fertilizer, fruit tree seedlings, watering cans, nerica rice seeds, cassava cuttings and knapsack sprayers to the said villages.

Launching  the campaign,  Dr Amadou Sowe, permanent secretary at the Department of State for Agriculture, on behalf of his SoS, Kanja Sanneh, said the compensation package also includes the vaccination of 100,000 small ruminants  against two  Epizootic diseases namely PPR and NCD which have serious impact on the livestock population countrywide.

He said AELP's intervention in this sub-sector is timely as outbreaks of such diseases occur in January of each year and the vaccination would save the small ruminant population.

According to Dr Sowe, this compensation scheme underscores the government's overiding policy on income and food security and poverty reduction by 2015 as enshrined in MDG1.

At the moment,  he went on, the Regional Locust Teams, Department of  Vetenary Services  and NGOs have already sensitised the regional authorities and beneficiaries on the distribution and vaccination exercise, which  will commence  in some parts of the country on 11th January, 2008.

On why the village of Kanilai has been chosen for the official launching, Dr Sowe said: "Kanilai has been chosen for the launching due to  President Jammeh's unbeatable efforts, manifested in agriculture since 1994, his clarion call for Gambians to go back to the land, and the efforts of his government for The Gambia to benefit from such a regional project to fight, manage and mitigate locust invasions, in and out of The Gambia,"

For his part, Sheikh Tijan Sosseh,  acting  project coordinator, AELP Gambia Office, said the crop loss compensation activity under component b, which involves the 230 villages affected by the 2004/05 locust invasion countrywide and  the operation is valued at US$123,000.

Other speakers included Musa Dampha, Director of Extension Services at the newly established National Agricultural Development Agency( NADA), Captain Baboucarr Sanyang, commander of Kanilai camp, Kora Faye, Kanilai farm manager. The ceremony was chaired by  Kekoi Kuyateh, deputy permanent secretary, Department of State for Agriculture.