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.
