Participants from various ministries and departments, last Thursday, validated The Gambia National Agricultural Investment Programme model at the Corinthia Atlantic Hotel in Banjul. 

The document is the national component of the Regional Agricultural Investment Programme. The validation workshop which was organised by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment, aimed at examining policy options for achieving the Mellenium Development Goal (MDG) in the country.

In his opening remarks, Mod Secka, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Employment, disclosed that in the previous years, the ECOWAS Commission had been working on strategies to implement the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme, noting that the attempt to formulate the Regional Agricultural Investment Programme, is therefore a step in the right direction. However, Secka observed that this regional exercise needed the input from all member countries, which necessitated the fact for all the ECOWAS member states to develop their National Agricultural Investment Programme.

In The Gambia, PS Secka went on, work started in September last year. According to him, the modelling work of the document has the merit of giving different scenarios and possibilities. "It also shows us the potential of the contribution of the various agricultural sub-sectors. The simulation work that was done with the model indicates areas that Gambia need to focus to make significant gains in sustained poverty reduction," Secka remarked.

As the document is validated, PS Secka told participants that Gambia will present it to her development partners in the country for their appreciation and support in mid-October, this month. However, he disclosed that the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has already been chosen as the lead donor and its country representative has since been actively participating in the process. He further commended those who participated in the drafting of the document and thanked the ECOWAS Commission for providing the financial and technical support as well as the International Food Policy Research Institute for its valuable assistance.

For his part, Abdourahman Jobe, deputy permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, said his ministry and that of the Trade ministry have been relentlessly collaborating for the timely finalisation of the document. The endeavour, he said, was in line with the Gambia agricultural methodology. DPS Jobe thanked the government of The Gambia for the development he has done in the agricultural sector of the country. He also thanked the ECOWAS Commission for funding the programme.

In his presentation on The Gambia poverty reduction strategy analysis model, Bakary Jammeh principal economist at the Central Bank of The Gambia, said in order to have a standard National Agricultural Investment Programme model, the country must have an optimal desired goal. During the meeting, participants described 2007 as an unfortunate year, not only for The Gambia, but globally when the year coincided with the dramatic economic drop down. Compared to last year, they said, there was maximum rainfall with appreciative agricultural production. However, they recommended that the agricultural sector must not be under estimated.