Young Agripreneur Calls for Support to Expand Production

By Ida L.B Ceesay

Meet Alagie Karamo Jammeh of Busumbala Village, West Coast Region and the owner of a vegetable garden called Steel Innovation Farmyard.

The 24year old produces’ onions, carrots, cucumbers, lettuces, peppers etc for sale.

Jammeh, whose main objective is providing healthy organic fruits and vegetables to the populace, started his business over six years ago.

Presently, he has some readily harvested onions for the market which he sells locally at a reasonable price.

GYINers preparing to showcase local Gambian products at the GCCI International Trade Fair

 Story by Madi S. Njie

Sarjo B. Jatta of Brikama New Town, West Coast Region, the proprietress of J’S Enterprise, and the 1st Runner Up for ‘Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2018 - Rural Youth Awards, is part of GYINers planning promote local products in upcoming GCCI Trade Fair.

Ms Jatta is among number of other young Gambian entrepreneurs - GYINers busy preparing to promote by showcasing their local Gambian made products during the upcoming GCCI International Trade Fair, from 6 to 28 April 2019, at the Independent Stadium in Bakau.

Ms Jatta currently wants to extend her wings to Groundnut processing into peanut butter.

She is also into Sheep Fattening in her native town of Brikama, WCR.

With the help of her mentor during the just concluded GYIN Gambia’s Youth Mentorship Programme fully funded by #YEP Project, she is expanding her business in a bid to increase her daily sales thus becoming a successful business woman.

Immediately after her graduation, she is working on acquiring the necessary requirements and items for her new venture such as packaging containers and labeling to meet international standards.

Ms Jatta is presently preparing to participate in the upcoming International Trade Fair, organized by The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI).

SUKUTA YOUTH IN BUSINESS;

MEET JANKO'S CREATION AT GCCI TRADE FAIR GAMBIA INTERNATIONAL

By Ahmad M. Ceesay

Babucarr Janko, the founder and manager of JANKO'S CREATION, is a young Sukutarian entrepreneur excelling in batiks and tie and dye. Babucarr is among the three Sukutarian graduands of the GYIN Gambia Youth Mentorship Program on Enterprise Management, a beneficiary of the YEP Mini Grant, and 2nd runner up at Youth Connekt Pitching Contest.

Janko's Creation will be at the GCCI Trade Fair Gambia International at Youth Pavilion, Independent Stadium Bakau from 6th to 28th April, 2019.

Be at the GCCI Trade Fair to get unique designs for you and your family. Curtains for house decoration, bedsheets, t-shirts for both male and female etc.
Let's encourage the youths by patronizing them

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How improved nutrition can save the world - with Italian celebrity chef Cristina Bowerman and RAI TV presenter Luca Rosini

What:       Why women are key to better nutrition and global poverty eradication – an event organised by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the Perugia International Journalism Festival.

When:      15:00-16:00, Saturday, 6 April 2019

Where:     Centro  Servizi G. Alessi, Perugia

Who:         Cristina Bowerman, award-winning Italian celebrity chef, Luca Rosini, journalist and presenter of Uno Mattina in Famiglia on RAI Uno, Linda Dorigo, photographer, journalist and film producer, and IFAD's nutrition and development expert, Antonella Cordone.

Story:          Improved nutrition targeted at young women can reduce poverty. But it's not enough to look at improving what they eat. We must also focus on guaranteeing respect for their rights and those of future generations.

  

GPU makes a breakthrough with State House on Press Accreditation

A delegation of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), led by the President Sheriff Bojang Jr, Monday morning held a meeting with the Director of Press and Public Relations at the State House on the new press accreditation policy.

The meeting was convened following the Union's disagreement with the new policy which requires journalists to undergo security screening by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for accreditation to cover the presidency.  The measure was to come into effect on Monday, 1st April.

However, at the meeting this morning, DPPR Amie Bojang-Sissosho said following a discussion with the GPU President and Secretary General and consultation with her State House colleagues, her office came to the conclusion that the screening of journalists by NIA would not go ahead.

She however said the NIA screening requirement has been misconstrued as a restriction and an intimidation of the press. 

“The policy was developed with goodwill and its only objective was to get to know the people covering the presidency because it is a sensitive office,” she said.

Countrywide Tekki Fii roadshow kicks off to empower Gambian youth

(Banjul) Young people, it’s worth making a living in The Gambia – that’s the message heading to all five regions of the country through a roadshow kicking off under a new Tekki Fii campaign.

The roadshow will run from 31 March to 5 April, stopping at different locations to host intergenerational talks, skills orientation sessions on entrepreneurship, solar installation, construction, creative industries, agribusiness and more.

GPU Communique on State House New Press Accreditation Policy

On Saturday, March 30, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) convened an emergency general meeting in response to a new policy by the State House requiring journalists to undergo security screening at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for accreditation to cover the presidency.

The new policy was announced last week by the Office of the Director of Press and Public Relations (DPPR) at the Office of the President.

The screening by NIA, renamed SIS, is in addition to a State House-prepared accreditation form already filled by journalists giving every information about their work and as well submitting their national identity cards. In essence, the information given was enough to be used for background checks.

Now in addition to this, with the new policy, journalists are required to go before a panel of NIA officials for security screening which could last for about an hour.

Since the announcement, the GPU issued a media alert urging journalists to stay away from any such arrangement until it exhausts consultations with the relevant authorities on the matter.

The GPU has had brief engagements with and made its position known to the Office of the DPPR.

Following hours of discussions at the GPU offices, we the media professionals in The Gambia hereby resolve that:

We acknowledge that the Office of the DPPR has over the past two years cooperated quite well with the press and has made tremendous efforts towards facilitating the work of the press on matters of coverage of events involving the presidency;

We recognise the improved environment for press freedom. We recognise the ongoing efforts by the government working closely with the media towards improving the relationship between the government and the media;

We recognise our constitutional right to hold the government accountable to the people. Access by journalists to such important office as the Office of the President is crucial in pursuant of our mandate as the watchdogs;

We acknowledge that institutional arrangements such as press accreditations are sometimes necessary to ensure security, and law and order. We are ready and willing to respect and comply with any such measure that aims to promote, not to curtail, press freedom.

We however are convinced that while background checks by security on journalists may be the norm, nowhere in the world does the process of issuance of press accreditation involve screening in the form of a panel of intelligence personnel.

We therefore consider the screening process as required by the Office of the DPPR as an interrogation, not a background check.

We have taken a common position that screening of journalists in this fashion by the NIA is a non-starter. It violates international best practices on press freedom as it places unnecessary barriers to the exercise of the right of the journalist to inform the people of what the government is doing on behalf of the tax payers.

We are of the view that the new measure provides room for abuse of press freedom that it could be used in the future to shut out media professionals who are deemed to be critical of government and government officials
In view of this, the emergency meeting resolves that no journalists should subject him/herself to any NIA screening. Complying may bring about long term safety complications for journalists.

GPU will not intervene if any such person gets into trouble arising from complying with the new requirement.

The meeting also called on the GPU to continue engaging the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure and the DPPR with a view to bringing accreditation procedures in line with standards that support the freedom and safety of media professionals.

In conclusion, The Gambia is emerging from two decades of dictatorship during which journalists were tortured, jailed and exiled. When this government came, one of the things they promised the people was an improved environment for the protection of human rights and press freedom. A lot has been achieved in this direction. We are thus urging the authorities to refused any temptation that could derail this progress.