Agric minister calls for youth involvement in farming

In an exclusive interview with this medium at his office in Banjul yesterday, Minister Sabally explained that 65% of the Gambian population is below the age of 35 years and "if we have one youth for a farm that will be enough for Gambia to be food self-sufficient."

“We are encouraging the youth despite youth unemployment because there are lots of opportunities in the agricultural sector that young people should explore in order to be able to employ themselves in agriculture,” he said. “The majority of young people came from the village. If you are in the city, we motivate you to go back to the region and liaise with the regional directorates of agriculture to ask what help they can give to start farming.”

Dr. Sabally further reiterated that young people should see farming as an entrepreneur, a business, and a career while adding that a farmer can be a millionaire.

Dwelling on food insecurity amid high inflation, the minister stated that the current trend in the world is food insecurity and as a country, the government cannot continue to blame the Ukraine war. He added that a hungry man wouldn’t listen to that.

To help eradicate poverty, especially in the rural area; Dr. Sabally revealed that The Gambia government first helps the people by direct cash transfer through the social development fund implemented by NaNA and partners.

“This is a way to increase the resilience of the most vulnerable people. A year ago, we saw direct food distribution to poor families and as of now, we are working on the National Food Reserve.”

He added that the government would raise funds from donor partners to be able to buy enough rice and oil in order to buffer the country for six months, saying this included building a mega-regional store at least size 40x20.

He continues that the initiative will help the ministry to be able to store food to cover the population for six months by either imported foods or domestic food from our local farmers.