(Friday, 6th August 2010 issue)
A team of personnel of the Community Driven Development Project, led by Mr. Lamin Badjie, Community Development Officer for Central River Region South recently embarked on a tour of project sites of the CDDP intervention area.
Speaking at one of the meetings held at the Governors Bantaba, the Grant Facility Manager, Mr. Balla Musa Conateh spoke at length on the importance of their visit, adding that monitoring and evaluation is the third component of the project.
According to him, since the project kicked-off two years ago, there is a need to take stock of the situation.
Mr. Conateh expressed satisfaction for what he called a successful implementation of the project over the years. He stated that the CDDP is here to empower poor farmers in their quest to realise household food security, thus reduce poverty.
For his part, the Village Development Committee Chairman, Mr. Hammadi ML Jawneh commended President Jammeh for the support in the agricultural sector, calling on the youths to heed to the President's call for the back-to-the-land.
Seyfo Biran Baldeh also emphasised the need to diversify in farming and to inculcate poultry production, pig production, animal rearing for family needs and other social commitments.
He noted that local NGOs should also invest into agriculture for the betterment of the country, as he put it, no country can develop in the absence of agriculture.