Sandu and Jimara Chiefs encourage farmers to take ownership of Livestock Project

Chiefs of Sandu and Jimara districts have encouraged livestock farmers in their areas to take ownership of the small ruminant Enhancement production project.

Jum Bah and Kanimang Sanneh said the project is   purely meant to address the concern and challenges of farmers particularly in term of rearing of small ruminants to boost production and productivity.

Sandu chief Bah commended the coming of the project, targeting to enhance livestock farmers across the country.

He said for the past 28 years he has been working as a veterinary officer but livestock farmers never had such project.

According to him, with this project, livestock owners will be able to sustain themselves through the project in the next two years.

Chief Bah told livestock owners that the project aims to discourage and reduce the importation of small animals from Mali and Senegal.

He also advised the project management team to ensure a speedy implementation of the project, as expectation from the livestock owners is high.

He also urged them to ensure that farmers have access to the fund in the soonest possible time so that they can be able to do a vibrant business. 

Chief Alhagi Kanimang Sanneh applauded the government and the Islamic Development Bank for ensuring that the Gambia benefits from the project.

He said the project has come at the right time, saying the livestock sub-sector have been neglected in the past.

“But now with the intervention of this project, surely importation of small ruminants will be the thing of the past.”

He said the project is a golden opportunity for livestock farmers, despite the fact that it is on loan base.

Chief Sanneh said considering the aim of the project, youth and women need to participate fully in the implementation, advising the project management team not to compromise the implementation of procedure.

He thanked the ministry of agriculture for their foresight, calling on the project management team to be principle minded and implement the project according to the guidelines of the project.