VP Jallow made the remarks on Wednesday while depustising for President Adama Barrow at Abuko Livestock Show Ground during the 2023 National Livestock Show and Rams Sale organised by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Gambia Livestock Marketing Agency, Department of Livestock Services, Small Ruminant Production Enhancement Project and National Livestock Owners Association.
“My government will continue to do all it can to ensure national and household food and nutrition security,” he stated, saying the rapid growth of our human population and the corresponding increase in the demand for animal proteins to meet the nation’s consumption needs, require a drastic change in the way livestock were kept.
“The low input, low output traditional system of livestock production practised by most of our livestock farmers must be replaced by a modern approach that is geared towards commercialisation and increased production and productivity,” he said, adding: ‘Selection of breeding animals, use of improved breeds and production skills and techniques, must be adopted by farmers to offset the shortfall in the supply of animal proteins.”
According to him, “the lack of livestock feed will be addressed by rehabilitating our natural grazing lands and the revitalisation of the Kamalo Livestock Feed Mill to ensure it is available to the livestock population on a year-round basis, in the face of climate change and erratic rainfall.
“The prevention and control of killer livestock diseases will also be a major effort of my government in order to reduce the annual losses our farmers incur on their livestock,” he added, pointing out that “as a country we must strive to meet the nutritional needs of both ourselves and our animals if we are to enjoy sustainable development.”
He therefore called on all and sundry to venture into livestock and crop production for a rapid boost in the national economy and food sufficiency. “The wealthy in our society must move away from the norm of investing in building and construction, and venture into agriculture,” he advises, saying:“It is only through this that we can be healthier and self-sufficient in what we eat.”
He concluded: “A healthy nation is always a wealthy nation because of its capacity to utilise the most active complement of society, the youth, to enhance growth and production.”
