 
Contact Address:
FAO
- Gambia
Banjul capital HQ
3-4 ECOWAS Avenue
P.M.B. 10 Banjul
The Gambia, West Africa
Tel no: 4228477
4498035
(Cape Point)
4498034
(Bakau)
Fax: 4228634
/ 4498036
Email: registry.gm@undp.org
|
Information:
The objectives of the Food and Agriculture Organization
assistance programmes in Gambia are to assist the Government
to maximise crop
& domestic food production & benefits to farmers,
strengthen the livestock industry, integrate the agriculture
& livestock sub-sectors, thereby increasing food
self-sufficiency, dietary protein & improving nutrition
& the quality of the rural population.
Furthermore the FAO aims to diversify the agricultural
production base, upgrade horticultural production systems,
handling, marketing and storage of horticultural crops,
developing and effectively operating rural finance systems
in collaboration with the Central
Bank; support poverty
alleviation programmes; promote the management of
natural resources for sustainable development and review
fisheries
development to maximise the contribution of industrial
fisheries to the national economy.
The Gambia benefits from the following FAO Regional
Projects:
International Cooperation with
the Nansen Programme: Fisheries Management and Marine
Environment;
Evaluation
of Production, Multiplication and Distribution Systems
of Improved Groundnut Germplasm in West and Central
Africa;
Development
of Communication Techniques for Peoples Participation;
Forestry Outlook
Study for Africa;
Sustainable
Fisheries Livelihoods Programme;
Implementing the International Code of Conduct
on the Distribution and Use of Pesticides in Sahel Countries;
Advisory Services
for Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in
West Africa;
Sustainable
Forest Management in Africa;
In July 2008 the FAO launched its emergency rice programme
in West Africa.
In September 2008, the Government of The Gambia and
the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) signed
the FAO-funded Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP)
Support Project for Sustainable Aquaculture Systems.
The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) was launched
by the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
in 1994. Focusing on low-income food-deficit countries,
the SPFS was endorsed in Rome in November 1996.
The programme aims at supporting The Gambia and other
countries in their efforts to:
Improve their
nation's national food security through rapid increases
in productivity and food production on an economically
and environmentally sustainable basis;
Reduce
year-to-year variability in agricultural production;
Improve Gambian peoples access to food;
The SPFS is a multidisciplinary programme with a strong
emphasis on meeting peoples needs directly by raising
farmer's net income, generating rural employment, increasing
social equity and promoting gender sensitivity.
Implementation of SPFS takes place in two stages, referred
to as the Pilot phase and the Expansion phase. The Government
of The Gambia has responded positively to the FAO initiative
of SPFS and tripartite agreement has been signed between
the Government of The Gambia, The Government of Bangladesh
and FAO. The programme is expected to be funded by the
Islamic Development Bank, possibly with the cofinancing
from the African Development Bank and the Common Wealth
Secretariat.
Nine experts and technicians from Bangladesh have arrived
to the Gambia to implement the first phase of the Programme
together with the Gambian Government and rural communities.
The first phase consist of four components:
Small-scale water harvesting, irrigation and
drainage systems using rainfall, water runoff, small
streams, ground water etc.; and agricultural land development
to secure production against the vagaries of the climate.
Intensification of sustainable plant production
systems with the transfer of adequate technologies accessible
to all and the effective use of high-yielding varieties,
integrated plant nutrition systems, integrated pest
management and appropriate post-harvest methods.
Diversification of production including aquaculture
and small animal (poultry, sheep, goats etc.) production.
Analysis of constraints to food security;
special attention will be given to the analysis of socio-economic
constraints, by gender and by specific groups, to the
expansion of the first phase in particular access to
technology, land, input, storage, marketing, processing
and credit facilities.
It was reported on the 4th September 2003 Bangladesh
will send over 30 field technicians and experts to the
Gambia to work with local experts, as part of a quadripartite
agreement signed between the two countries, funded by
the Islamic Development Bank and supported by FAO. |
