Among the 1.7 million people in The Gambia, most of the rural dwellers depend on farming for their survival and also as a source of employment. Many youths in the Western Region of The Gambia resort to cutting down of trees and selling them as firewood or burning them as charcoal to make a living. This trend has rapidly diminished the forest of The Gambia and the nearby border villages in the Sout
hern Senegalese region of Cassamance. As a youth and part of those communities, it’s quite becoming a concern for me and many other people in my country. The concern is:
How will be people especially the youths survive now that the forest is gone? Many wildlife that were seen near our homes years ago, are hardly ever seen in the forest today. Due to deforestation, our rainfall pattern is quite becoming unpredictable. What is the faith of the poor farmers that depend on agriculture for survival? For a every problem the we face, we must look at the possible causes to make a good decision to tackle it. Why are the youths resorting more on logging than farming which has been the backbone of the economy? First, The Gambia enjoys a three month rainy season. And sometimes the rainy season is quite unpredictable. For example, for many years, rainy season starts in June and this year 2014, it is yet to commence though we are in July. This makes it difficult for farmers. Secondly, Farmers lack the incentives and capital to start a mechanize farming were they might make use of irrigation so that they can produce year around. The final result of the above reasons is Rural- Urban Migration. The youths need jobs to take care of themselves and since farming is less lucrative for them, they move to urban areas in search of better life or venture in the dangerous journey to Europe. VISION
The project seeks to reignite Farming, make it lucrative for the youths and help to provide employment for some. It seeks to discourage deforestation, migration and the negative believe people have about farmers i.e (Farming in The Gambia is the occupation of the poor people and not the rich). The project will also give more regards to women and encourage them to involve more in Horticultural production. OPPORTUNITIES AND STRENGHTS OF THE PROJECT
As The Gambia is working towards vision 2016 with a slogan “EAT WHAT YOU GROW AND GROW WHAT YOU EAT”, our project will surely help to accomplice that. The Government is working towards putting an end to importation of agricultural produce that can be grown here. They are encouraging the youths to get involve more in agriculture. It is no doubt that for this reason, we will get the backing of the government. Including the community in the daily running of the project will enhance the livelihood of many. They could use the money they earn to buy food for their families and pay their children school fees and for that reason, the community will appreciate our effort and will involve more in the positive development of the project. Since the project will make use of irrigation (i.e pumping system to water the fields), production can be year around and we can generate more income for the project within a few years. We can make contacts with hotels and restaurants in The Gambia so we can be supplying them with our products which will be more economical for them than relying on importation. Somita Village, the site of the project, has a newly build community market. The market could serve us a great deal to sell our products hours after harvest without less cost of transportation. There is enough labor force to help in the running of the garden.
