The training aimed at equipping journalists with requisite knowledge on the disadvantages of cage chicken farming to disseminate more informed messages with a view to educating the public on the advantages and challenges of fusing battery cages in chicken rearing methods.
Dr Abdou Ceesay, Director at the Department of Livestock (DLS), explained that The Gambia like many more African nations has continued to depend highly on agriculture for national development, with livestock having a significant share of this agricultural contribution to national development is seen by many to have the potential of expanding further.
He added that this contributes to agriculture GDP of 20%. With our rapidly growing population, he continued that the need to sustain the supply of animal protein is very urgent. He further stated that people are turning toward small ruminants and poultry to satisfy their food security needs because these sub-sectors seem to be a quick route for many out of the poverty track.
“The Gambia poultry sector is in the growing phase, although it is still seen as far from meeting our population demand for chicken meat and eggs,” he said. “We have a related small chicken population size of over 900,000 and it's growing. A lot of effort is already put in by the government to enhance the growth of the chicken industry in this country. There are already existing projects and initiatives that are targeting women and youth by supporting them with various forms of inputs for sustainable poultry production.”
Amadou Jallow, president of the Network for Agricultural Communicators The Gambia (NAC), said the programme is a new undertaking introduced to The Gambia and that they hope it would be another good venture in the agricultural sector.
Mr Jallow added that NAC has continued to give information to the public on things related to agriculture across the country, adding that as journalists, they hope to have more information on cage-free chicken.
“I am giving assurance that our members will continue to give as much information to the public about this new venture,” he said. “Most of the chicken farmers in the country cage our chickens in small spaces and the project is advocating for the freedom and welfare of the chickens. NAC appreciates the initiative and we will continue to give much support in information sharing and gathering.”
Amadou Demba, President of Poultry Farmers’ Co-Operative in The Gambia, expressed delight while emphasising that the training would avail journalists first-hand knowledge on cage-free chicken, as they have been prepared to disseminate the knowledge acquired to their audiences.
“This is a training that has not been happening in the sub-region but The Gambia is fortunate to be the first to have the opportunity,” he said.
