FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Amie Sanneh
9 July 2009
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), yesterday, handed over agricultural inputs to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The items includes 30 metric tonnes of Nerica rice seeds, 200 metric tonnes of fertilizer and five power tillers, equivalent to D6.5 million. Western, North Bank and Lower River Regions will benefit.
In handing over the items on behalf of the FAO Representative, Thomas Sekwu said FAO approved a project of $250,000 for the Gambia to address the impact of the soaring food prices. The objective of the project, he said, is to protect those vulnerable to food price shocks from nutritional deprivation resulting in acute malnutrition and loss of livelihoods by increasing domestic supply of rice.
"The project aims at saving human lives by increasing productivity and minimizing crop losses", he noted.
Mr. Sekwu added that the project will assist 3,000 vulnerable households to ensure access to agricultural inputs to increase agricultural production capacity.
He expressed concern over the seriousness of high food prices in developing countries. Farmers, Mr. Sekwu added, suffer as international prices of fertilizers are also increased. He explained that in December 2007 FAO launches the "soaring food prices" to respond to the crises that threaten to push millions of people into hunger and poverty.
High food prices, he went on, have become a matter of survival for some 26 billion people world wide.
According to documents, he said, the world's poorest spend up to 80 percent of household income on the food they eat most of whom live in rural areas who make their living from agriculture.
The FAO initiative is meant to boost food production in the short term he said.
He further said that the UN has underlined that the most urgent need is to feed those who are hungry and vulnerable. The next step he added is to help impoverished farmers who have often suffered through years of poor harvest and low prices, be guaranteed the means to secure this year's crop and years to come.
The crisis of high food prices, according to Mr. Sekwu, presents the world the opportunity to invest in agriculture and secure a sustainable future for world food supplies. He expressed hope that the input will be distributed immediately as the rain has started and farmers are eager to receive it. He also hopes that the items will reach the most vulnerable.
In receiving the items, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Bakary Trawally, described last year as difficult for the country due to soaring food prices world wide.
He described the situation of the Gambia as pathetic, noting that whatever people eat in the Gambia is from farmers outside the country. Mr. Trawally called for attitudinal change and for people to be ready to work hard. He said they want the Gambia to be food supplier and not to be buying food from outside. He urged young people to take farming as their business and called on others who have the capital but cannot do farming to sponsor farmers.
The Director of Agriculture, Sait Drammeh, also spoke at the presentation ceremony which was chaired by Musa Dampha, Deputy Director of Agriculture.
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