Horticulture technical services at the department of agriculture with support from West Africa Agriculture Production Project (WAAPP) organised a 6-day farmer training for 400 participants from across the country.
The consultative workshop on advocacy for awareness creation on gender policy and other relevant agricultural documents was held at Chamen Agricultural and Seed Multiplication Centre in the North Bank Region.
The deputy director general at the department of agriculture, Falalo Touray, underscored the importance of building the awareness of farmers on gender policy and relevant agricultural documents to enhance food production and productivity.
He said raising the awareness of farmers on gender policy would contribute to promoting food production and sustainable livelihood.
Deputy Director General Touray praised the Management Development Institute (MDI) for the partnership in providing human resource development to the department of agriculture in the formulation of gender action plan on food security and poverty reduction.
He commended the World Bank through WAAPP for complementing government in the drive to attain food security.
Amie Fabureh Dampha, deputy director, Horticultural Technical Services, applauded women farmers for the diversification in food production.
She said popularizing gender policy and other agricultural documents would empower farmers to track the achievements and challenges registered during the implementation.
Madam Fabureh called on women participants to be proactive in using dialogue as a tool in the dissemination of gender policy to ensure men are gender-friendly in the quest for food security.
Dr Saikou E. Sanyang, regional Agricultural Director for NBR, commended horticultural technical services and WAAPP for the foresight in empowering farmers with information on national documents to enhance food production.
He thanked farmers for their active participation in food self-sufficiency and poverty reduction, saying relevant agricultural documents aim to support farmers to increase production and promote commercialization on agricultural products.
Ousman Jammeh, Agricultural Director for West Coast Region, noted that the training aimed at ensuring that farmers adopt best agricultural practices to bring about meaningful development on farmers’ families.
He reiterated the invaluable support of WAAPP to the department of agriculture in the attainment of food self-sufficiency of “growing what you eat and eat what you grow”.
Ebrima Ceesay of MDI Gender Unit said building gender awareness among farmers is crucial in boosting the country’s food basket.
Women empowerment calls for concerted support from men and urges men to be supportive in the drive to food security and poverty reduction at household levels.