Assan
Sanyang is engaging in poultry and vegetable production, including tomato,
sweet pepper, hot pepper, bitter tomato, ‘Guwana’ -pepper, eggplant and water
melon in Abuko.
The
young Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Information Technology –ELIT- alumnus is
also among several Gambian youth who benefited from the Youth Empowerment
Project (YEP) Mini Grant Scheme. He was given birds, feeds and drinkers worth
D47, 000.
The
Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), a European Union (EU) flagship project in The
Gambia is implementing by the International Trade Centre in collaboration with
the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MoTIE)
and the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS) with the objectives to improve
skills, create jobs and generate incomes for Gambian youth.
Sanyang
said the support he received from the YEP Project has helped him to start his
own poultry in the garden. Today, he has six hundred layer birds.
Barely
two months after establishing his garden in 2017, Assan learnt about Global
Youth Innovation Network Gambia Chapter (GYIN Gambia Chapter) and it’s ELIT
National Youth Summer Camp.
He
knew the program from a friend named Samuel Mendy, a motivational speaker and
he used the opportunity to apply and got selected to participate in the 10 days
national youth summer camp, which was his first experience of such kind.
The
young entrepreneur said it was a good experience for him and his business after
learning business concepts, such as budgeting, business management, record
keeping, customer care and leadership, as well as marketing techniques.
The
experience enabled him to expand his business, and inspired him to do more in
his career. He acknowledged that GYIN Gambia chapter has exposed him to many
opportunities, citing his travel to Burkina Faso for a month-long training
programme.
As
could be deduced from what he told this medium, his participation in that
training in the Francophone nation has enabled him to increase his income,
hence he invested it in his garden. “I also participated in the National Youth
Conference and Festival (NaYConF) Entrepreneurship Youth Fair in Basse, 2017,”
he recalled.
In
2018/2019, he was also enrolled in GYIN Gambia Youth Mentorship Programme on
Enterprise Management- a six-months mentoring programme for rural youths.
Sanyang
also expressed delights over the publicity and advertisements on the social
media (Facebook) being accorded to him by the GYIN Gambia management, thereby
promoting him and his business.
One
of the biggest challenges the young man is facing at the moment is garden equipment’s
and the watering of his garden. He lamented the lack of irrigation pipe for his
garden, which he divulged, is delaying his progress.
Mr.
George Jatta, a 28-year-old gardener and a co-business partner to Assan
Sanyang, stressed the need for proper marketing of their farm produce. “We have
some challenges in marketing because we sell our produce to local women
vendors, who sometimes, offer their own prices which kill our market,” he
lamented, pointing to water shortage as another challenge hindering their scale
of production.
Jatta
continued: “We want to cover all agricultural areas. We even do sheep fattening
as well. We want to go into processing to boost our business.”
He
also told the Mansa Banko Online that gardening has transformed their lives, and
ultimately, given them the kind of life many young people would like to live.
He added that it has also helped them to take care of themselves and their
family needs.
While
hailing the ELIT National Youth Summer Camp, he enthused that attending the program
has encouraged them to strive harder in achieving their dreams.
Mr.
Jatta, also in 2018/2019 benefitted from GYIN Gambia’s six months Youth
Mentorship Programme on Enterprise Management.
Jatta thanked GYIN Gambian chapter for supporting them, as he called on other youth to join the membership of GYIN Gambia chapter, so as to be productive in the society.
Source-GYIN
