FAO
Country Representative Dr Perpetua Katepa-Kalala has said the phenomenon of
urbanisation has negative influence on farming and agricultural development.
She
added that urbanisation reduces the amount of land for agricultural purposes.
Dr
Katepa-Kalala was speaking yesterday at a daylong seminar organised by the
Department of Agriculture in partnership with the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on micro-gardening exposition and
demonstration, at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The
forum was designed to promote urban agriculture, employment creation, income
generation and food and nutrition security in The Gambia.
“This
leads to reduced agricultural activities in urban areas contributing to poverty
and resulting in low level of fruit and vegetable consumption, compared to the
400 grams per day recommended by the United Nations World Health Organisation.”
She
said using lesser land to intensively produce fruits and vegetables is one way
to remedy the situation and enhance the food and nutrition status of households
in the urban area.
To
boost the overall supply of horticultural produce to the world’s developing
cities, micro-gardening is highly appreciated for its high efficiency in terms
of land and water use, as it could facilitate daily access to a variety of
horticulture produce for consumption.
According
to her, FAO promotes the sustainable and intensification of commercial market
gardening on urban peripheries.
In
densely populated areas, it has a complementary strategy to help low-income
households improve their food and nutrition security by growing their own
vegetables in micro-gardens, she noted.
“Micro-gardening
is the intensive cultivation of a wide range of vegetables, roots and tubers
and herbs in small spaces, such as balconies, patios and rooftops.
“While
urban residents have long grown vegetables in backyard plots, modern
micro-gardening makes use of containers such as plastic lined wooden crates,
custom-built tables and even old car tyres.”
She
also stated that micro-gardening is highly productive and could be easily
managed by anyone - women, men, children, the elderly and the disabled.
She
said FAO studies show that a micro-garden of one square metre could produce
around 299 tomatoes of 30kg per 36 heads of lettuce every 60 days, 10 cabbages
every 90 days and 100 onions every 120 days.
The
FAO country representative further stated that micro-gardening technology has
the possibility to create jobs in the cities for women and the youth, and to
address food and nutrition security in urban areas.
She
reaffirmed the FAO’s commitment to deepening its collaboration and technical
cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Gambia government.
She thanked the government for creating an
environment conducive for cooperation and collaboration.
Also
speaking at the seminar was the deputy director general of the Department of
Agriculture, Sariyang M.K. Jobarteh, who said the forum was another noble
gesture for the development of the horticulture sub-sector.
He
said a great potential is attached to the horticultural crop production in The
Gambia as it has become a priority area for government towards diversification,
food security, poverty reduction, rural development and economic growth and
also contributes 4 per cent to the GDP.
According
to him, the FAO has been assisting the farming communities to improve their
production and productivity to be self-sufficient in food and nutritional
security.
In
response to the food and nutrition security, micro garden is another way of cultivating
vegetables in a soilless method.
He
said to be successful in micro-gardening there is need to establish outset
training and engage public and private sector support services.
