Agricultural Minister Launches National Seed Plan

Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Amie Fabureh

By Mamadou Edrisa Njie

The Minister of Agriculture (MoA), Hon. Amie Faburay on Thursday, 20^th June, 2019 has presided over the launching of the National Seed Plan at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi.

The launching was organized by the National Seed Secretariat (NSS) under the Ministry of Agriculture with support from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (F.A.O) Banjul office- www.fao.org/world/gambia through the European Union (EU) funded project dubbed “Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security/Nutrition to mitigate Migration flows.

The National Seed Plan was developed to promote production, availability and utilization of quality seed that would improve agricultural productivity and contribute to economic growth of The Gambia.

“Quality seeds constitute a prime prerequisite in agriculture and the basis of agricultural productivity, which is part of a critical importance to the government of The Gambia, since the national economy and food and nutrition security depends on a successful local agriculture,” says the Agricultural Minister.

The Ministry of Agriculture, she added, has long pursued the establishment of seed industry structures, policy and programs that would support the Gambia’s agriculture.

Giving background information on the national seed efforts, Minister Faburay said the National Seed effort commenced in earnest as far back as the 1970’s when the Seed Technology Unit (STU) was formed as part of the National Research Institute (NARI).

She explained that the STU went through series of transformation which resulted to the launching of the National Seed Plan 2019 with supports from F.A.O, World Bank and recently the EU, all with a view to attaining seed industry structures that would support a modern and productive agriculture.

Frowning to the fact that the country is yet to progress into a substantive seed industry, she informed the gathering that the launching of the National Seed Plan will serve as an instrument to address the aspirations of Gambian farmers.

Also speaking on the occasion, the European Union Programme Manager, Mr. Darrell Sexstone said at the start of 2017 the EU took the decision to allocate 20.5 MEUR from the 11^th European Development Fund to the Gambia for a programme entitled “Agriculture for Economic Growth and Food Security/ National to mitigate Migration.

He noted that this 1.2Billion Dalasis programme is self-contained and has three components namely Agriculture for Economic Growth, World Food Programme (WPF) School meals and disaster risks Management and Non-Governmental Organisations support to the overall programme.

This programmes principal aim, according to him, is to create growth and employment opportunities, in particular for women and youth, through improved agricultural productivity as well as access to food, whilst at the same time increasing most vulnerable smallholders’ participation in agricultural value chains.

Mr Sexstone also indicated that the programme recognizes there is a need to enhance agriculture and food security information, as well as improve crises management and prevention to build resilience in rural communities.

“In doing so, the programme is expected to reduce migration flows especially to the EU,” he said, noting that the project is being carried out in North Bank Region (NBR), Central River Region (CRR), Lower River Region (LRR) and Upper River Region (URR).

Other Speakers included the Director General of the Gambia National Seed Secretariat, Morro Manga, FAO Representative in the Gambia, Dr Perpetua Katepa-Kalala and Dr. Kwame Miezan of the Africa Seeds Programme and the vote of thanks was delivered by Deputy Director of Agriculture, Mr. Sarian Jobarteh.