The
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Sheriffo Bojang, has expressed fear and concern
about the danger of insect and pest “devastation” of the country’s crops.
He
added that the agriculture industry continues to be under a serious economic
threat by notorious alien pests, while losses of up to 100 per cent have been
realized in some fruit plants like pawpaw.
The
deputy minister was speaking at the signing ceremony of the Technical
Cooperation Programme (TCP) Project on Integrated Pest Management on Whitefly
Pioneered between Plant Protection Services of the Department of Agriculture
and FAO Gambia office.
The
signing ceremony was held on Wednesday at the conference room of the Ministry
of Agriculture.
He
also stated that other plants have suffered a decrease in yield due to the
direct and indirect negative impacts of pests.
According
to Bojang, the project has arrived to help them check the further spread and
destruction caused by flies, which are causing significant economic losses to
horticulture, especially in the West Coast and the North Bank regions of the
country.
He
said that earlier in 2013, an assessment of the pest situation was done by the
Plant Protection Services in collaboration with the National Agricultural
Research Institute (NARI), and some technical advice had been rendered to the
affected farmers through various means, which included the television.
“This
TCP is consistent with the country’s medium term plans on poverty reduction and
food security as enshrined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 11 PRESP II,
Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan (GNAIP), and other strategic
development blueprints of The Gambia,” he noted.
On
behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, he expressed appreciation to the signing
of the TCP on Integrated Pest Management on whitefly, which when implemented is
expected to solve the menace of whitefly pests in The Gambia.
Deputy
Minister Bojang assured all of the Agriculture ministry’s continued
collaboration with the FAO in supporting the government to meet its development
agenda or goals.
The
FAO country representative, Dr Perpetua Ketepa Kalala, said the magnitude of
crop loss and destruction to landscape and ornamental plants, as a result of
whitefly infestation, mostly in the West Coast and North Bank regions, “is of
great economic significance”.
She
said there is also “high risk of the insect pest spreading to new locations in
The Gambia and to neighbouring countries”, if preventive measures are not
swiftly put in place.
It
was for this reason, the country FAO official noted, that the Ministry of
Agriculture and FAO found it very relevant to design a technical cooperation
programme to control this devastating insect pest - the whitefly - engaging
sustainable integrated pest management approaches.
“The
TCP Project we are signing represents a contribution from FAO of D20.4 million.
The project which has duration of 18 months was designed by the Plant
Protection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture with technical support from
FAO,” she stated.
The
project objective is aligned to The Gambia development priorities, including
the ANR Policy, Vision 2025, the GNAIP, the SDGs as well as the UNDAF for The
Gambia, she added.
The
project “fits in well with the FAO’s first strategic objective”, which is to
help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, as well as its second
strategic objective.
She
reaffirmed the FAO’s commitment to deepening its collaboration and technical
cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Gambia government.
