Farmers Dialogue With Govt., Civil Society Organisation

The Nation Farmers Platform (NPF) on Tuesday 8th September 2009, held a one-day forum for farmers at the NaNA conference hall in Kanifing, aimed at discussing with heads of agricultural service units, international and civil society.

The objectives of the forum, was among others, to strengthen dialogue between farmers and officers, promote information on existing agricultural programmes, plans and available resources, and to brainstorm on how farmers can access them.

Speaking at the forum, the National Coordinator (NPF), Mrs. Marie Adam gave an overview of the organisation, noting that it is the umbrella body of farmer organisations in The Gambia. She noted that the mandate of the National Farmers Platform is to ensure that farmer's income is increased from the benefit of their farming activities.

According to her, their aim is to ensure that all farmers are well-equipped with the relevant information regarding their activities. She stated that the importance of bringing stakeholders together in a forum to discuss pertinent issues on farming cannot be over- emphasised.

She concluded by saying that with the recent development in agricultural sector, the forum would provide farmers with the relevant information on the new changes, and its impact on their work.