Six ex-corps members of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) left the country on 19 August 2011 to take part in a month-long training in agriculture, livestock farming and processing in Benin.
The group comprised Cherno Barry, Fatoumatta Bah, Mot Lamin Bah, Abdoulie Sallah, Basirou Boye and Saibana Camara, who are all graduates of the NYSS.
Organised by the ECOWAS Commission for Youth and Sports Development Centre, the training will bring together ninety young people from the sub-region from 19 August to 23 September 2011 at the Songhai Centre in Porto Novo, Benin.
The training is aimed at contributing to the attainment of Ecowas’s vision 2020 of moving from “ECOWAS of states to an ECOWAS of people”, increasing the employability of ECOWAS youths, building capacity of young entrepreneurs and contributing to the reduction of youth unemployment.
The course will be centred on fish breeding, processing of fruits into syrup and juice, bakery and dairy production, production of soap, crop production, poultry farming, breeding of small ruminants, and drafting of a business plan.
According to a press release issued by the NYSS, its executive director, Nuha Y. Jammeh, urged the youths to perform to expectations and represent the good image of The Gambia while in Benin.
He also advised them to take the training seriously and help each other during their stay in the West African state.
Musa Mbye, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports and former NYSS director, urged the Benin training beneficiaries to exercise maturity while abroad.
“You were chosen out of the lot and you must live up to expectations,” he advised the beneficiaries.
“This is the 7th batch of ex-NYSS corps members to be trained by the ECOWAS Commission for Youth and Sports Development Centre,” the release added.
