The
first-ever national youth award ceremony is slated for Saturday 29 April 2017,
at the Farmers Training Centre in Jenoi in the Lower River Region.
The
ceremony is organized by The Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN Gambia) in
collaboration with partners such as National Youth Council.
International
Trade Centre (ITC) through the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) The Gambia,
European Union Trust Fund for Africa, the National Agricultural Land and Water
Management Development Project (Nema), and the National Youth Council (NYC)
supported the event.
Momodou
Edrissa Njie, Executive Director of Global Youth Innovation The Gambia (GYIN),
said the goal of the project is to reduce poverty among rural women and young
people through improved productivity based on sustainable land and water
management practices.
Mariam
Saine, Rural Youth Award Committee member and financial controller of GYIN,
said the idea for the first-ever Rural Youth Award stemmed from recommendations
from that National Youth Summer Camp held in Jenoi, Lower River Region of The
Gambia, and one of the 11-point recommendations was to organise a Rural Youth
Award-celebrating youths in Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness and Information
Technology.
Saine
revealed that some of the challenges faced by rural entrepreneurs are stringent
tax laws and lack of guarantees to raise loans.
According
to Saine, difficulty in raising capital through equity and the dependence on
small money lenders for loans for which they charge discriminating interest
rates and property cost are also impeding factors to rural entrepreneurs.
Saine
said many rural youths are unable to make savings even though savings help
young entrepreneurs to invest as well as to access loans from both commercial
and financial institutions.
One
of GYIN’s Board of Directors, Alhagie M. Sarr, said the importance of
recognizing and rewarding the efforts of rural youth could not be
over-emphasised, adding that the youth play a vital role in the socio-economic
development of any nation.
‘’Creating
opportunities for the youth, which makes them realize their potentials and
talents, is a step in the right direction,’’ Sarr pointed out.
Another
member of GYIN, Bakary E.K. Jammeh, urged the youth to engage in agriculture.
