At Poultry for Prosperity launching, officials calls for ‘self-reliant’

The Poultry for Prosperity with the acronym P4P has officially been launched at the Department of Livestock Services in Abuko on the 8^th November, 2016.

The project is jointly funded by the Food and Agriculture Sector Development Project (FASDEP) under the Ministry of Agriculture and SAADIS Group Limited. The project will be implemented by the National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI).

FASDEP through its sub-component will provide 60 per cent funding for the establishment of 150 backyard poultry schemes for youth and women under the P4P, while SAADI Group Limited contributes 40 per cent.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Landing B. Sanneh, general manager, NEDI said the project is intended to benefit 1000 young people across the country.


According to him, the project is meant to empowering youth and women to be self-employed and develop greater entrepreneurship skills.

Speaking on behalf on the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr. Lamin B. Darboe, National Youth Council (NYC) executive director, said P4P is meant to ensure that the country produces enough quality local broilers to mitigate the importation of chicken- legs in the Gambian markets.

He stated that the project, as a pilot, targets 150 youth and women in the Greater Banjul Area and the West Coast Region.

For his part, Mr. Kebba L Jarju, FASDEP project coordinator expressed gratitude, saying that the project will complement the effort of the government on its drive of accelerating growth, employment creation and poverty reduction in the country.

He noted that P4P will scale up support to reduce poverty and unemployment; improve both rural and urban livelihoods and food & nutrition security by increasing agricultural production and productivity, linking farmers to markets, reducing risk and vulnerability as well as providing technical assistance.

The project director of FASDEP, Kebba Jarjue, gave an overview of FASDEP, saying FASDEP is funded by the government of The Gambia and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the leaders of the G8, in Pittsburgh in 2009.

He told the audience that P4P was conceptualized by the SAADIS Group and NEDI in which a proposal submitted to FASDEP for funding, adding that FASDEP approved the proposal based on the hope that it would be a successful pilot project that can be expanded to other regions. .

Mr. Basaadi Jabbie, Chief Executive Officer, SAADIS Group, P4P will contribute immensely to the government stated goal of reducing poverty and unemployment. He thanked the government of the Gambia as well as FASEDP for the trust and confident bestowed on them to support the project with 40 percent.

Officially launching the P4P, deputy minister, Mr. Sheriffo Bojang said that P4P is geared to improve both rural and urban livelihoods, saying that it will improve the food and nutrition security by increasing the production and productivity of the poultry in the country.

According to him, with youth and women venturing into poultry farming, he believes that it will mitigate the importation of chicken and eggs into the country.

“This is part of the two ministries-Youth and Sports and Agriculture in addressing food security, youth and Women self employment and employability.

He adds: “we hope that these beneficiaries would work to expectation hence enabling the continuity of P4P to other regions”.

According to him, these are the kind of projects that young people want as it will help them improve their livelihood standard.

He said FASDEP forms part of efforts towards the implementation of the GNAIP formulated by the Ministry of Agriculture.