The
maiden national youth summer camp organised by the Global Youth Innovation
Network Gambia Chapter (GYIN Gambia) has ended on Sunday at the Rural Farmers’
Training Centre in Jenoi, Lower River Region (LRR). It was held from 24 to 31 July, 2016.
Organisers
said the weeklong event, dubbed ‘The Entrepreneurship, Leadership and
Information Technology (ELIT 2016) Summer Camp’, has availed rural youth the
opportunity to demonstrate their abilities, plans and share among themselves,
experiences in their various initiatives and ventures.
Ebrima
Bah, chairperson of ELIT 2016, said the organisation of the camp stem from
ambitious discussions among the youth (participants) through social media and
several live meetings to scale up the spirit of self-reliance.
ELIT
2016 has availed the participants the opportunity to interact, discuss and
review case studies on different aspects of life with a view to learn and to
adopt the models that suit their own progress.
Mamadou
Edrisa Njie, GYIN Gambia national coordinator, said challenged all GYINers (the
name for GYIN members) to be focused and take up initiatives. He said young people should be committed to
the development of one another and to the community and the country as a whole.
He
noted that most rural youth are poor due to the nature of their small-scale
farming or lack of job security, low incomes and limited schooling.
“As
a result, these youths seek independence through self-employment in small
businesses or emigration to urban centers,” Mr Njie said. “Those who decide to remain in the
countryside are beset by constraints caused by lack of assets such as capital,
land, experience and limited guidance in developing business projects.”
GYIN
Gambia national coordinator acknowledged the National Agricultural Land and
Water Management Development (NEMA) project’s Capital Investment Stimulation
Fund (CISF) which facilitates access to means of production support rural
youths in entrepreneurship with start-up businesses.
While
commending the Nema project for supporting ELIT 2016, Mr Njie called on the
project to support awards as recognition for excellence in entrepreneurship for
rural youth.
Miki
Jawla, Low Land Officer of Nema project, LRR, said Nema has opened its doors to
the youth and women and it is now their (youth and women) responsibility to
take advantage of the project and get access to its grants and other
opportunities for skills development outside The Gambia.
He
called on the youth to have a vision and to work towards achieving that vision,
saying Nema funding is available to young rural youth with vision.
Fanding
Saidykhan, deputy regional director of agriculture in LRR, said the summer camp
was a very important initiative because it targeted the most important people
(the youth) in one of the most important sectors of the country, the rural
areas.
He
said the thematic areas of the camp were very important for the participants’
personal and communal development and the country’s economic development.
Musa
Jarra, the youth coordinator in LRR under the Ministry of Youth and Sports,
said the topics for the summer camp were apt and that Gambian youth must
embrace opportunities like ELIT 2016 that are available to them.
“Your
role as young people is the need to recognize your potentials and to utilize
them to your maximum benefit,” he said.
Banky
Njie, business development officer, Nema Project, said Nema is working with the
private sector to increase the supply of affordable food and ensure it is
available to people who need it most.
He
said through the project, they build farmers’ access to finance and markets.
Mr
Njie noted that ELIT 2016 Summer Camp for 45 young people was very timely as it
has allowed rural youth to use their energies, explore their potentials and
demonstrate their abilities and experiences in their various business
initiatives.
Abou
Njie, deputy governor of LRR, told the participants that “you are not here on
tourism; you are here to learn and learn for the better.”
He
said he was not a surprised that the Nema project supported the youth summer
camp on entrepreneurship, leadership, and information technology, adding that
these three things are very important in human life.
