The Gambia River Basin Cashew Enhancement Project was last Wednesday launched at the Paradise Suits Hotel. Organised by the International Relief and Development (IRD), The Gambia, the Gambia River Basin Cashew Enhancement Project (CEP), is a three years US Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded project designed to strengthen cashew growers association, promote best agronomic practices for cashew production and to increase the value added to cashew apple and cashew nut.

IRD is a charitable organisation specializing in international development and humanitarian assistance in over 20 countries worldwide. In his launching remarks, Barry L Wells, American ambassador in The Gambia said the project is an important project designed to enable 50,000 cashew farmers from the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau to maximize returns from cashew production and improve their livelihoods.

He noted that the CEP 3-year project estimated value is US$3.2million. He noted that the IRD will work with cashew farmers, women involved in the cashew value chain, including producers, harvesters/collectors, processors and traders of processed cashew products in the three named countries.

He used the opportunity to congratulate the government of The Gambia for the support given to the agricultural sector and IRD on this project. He expressed gratitude to the USAD Attache in Senegal for the hard work in the realization of the project, which will surely change the face of agriculture in The Gambia.

Jo Anne Yeager Sallah, IRD country director, in her introductory remarks, said IRD mission is to reduce the suffering of the world's most vulnerable groups and provide the tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency. "Combining technical expertise with a community-based approach, IRD believes that the way to long-term sustainability and income generation must include the private sector," she noted. According to her, the CEP project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, through a food for progress grant.

The IRD country director expressed delight over the support accorded to IRD by the Gambia government and also thanked the United States government for their support. Robertson Hanson, United State Development of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Attache, Dakar, thanked IRD for the vision they demonstrated in the conception of a regional cashew project. He expressed profound gratitude to the government of the the Gambia and the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment as well as Finance and Economic Affairs as they have been indispensable. He also thanked the American embassy in the Gambia for their commitment and support to the project.

This 3 year project according to him, could not have come at a better time than now when the demand for cashew is increasing worldwide," Nancy Nyang, permanent secretary, Ministry of Forestry and the Environment said. She stated that record shows that cashew is producing in 32 countries of the world and the production figures of cashew crop as published by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is to the tune of 3.1 million tons per annum. According to her, FAO estimates have put world's total land area under cashew cultivation around 33,900 kilometers square.

PS Nyang revealed that from the forest plantations and parks, cashew cultivation has become widely spread to all regions of the Gambia through alley cropping, forest farming and silvo- pastural practices. She said cashew has now become a major cash crop for the Gambia, as farmers sell the nuts at domestic and international markets.

Bakary B Trawally, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture said cashew is one of the crops that can survive any weather. He said cashew is an insurance crop that if it is planted properly, can be a savior to the farmer. He thanked the American embassy in Banjul for their support and urged the IRD to strongly strength their capability to transform cashew product, as this will add more value to the quality of cashew produce in the country.