Women farmers trained on rice processing #gambia

At least 30 women farmers and food processors drawn from the West Coast and Central River Regions last Friday concluded a three-day intensive training on rice-processing and the value-added chain. The training, which was held at the Rural Farmers Agricultural Training Centre in Jenio, Jarra West District of the Lower River Region, was organised by the Food Technology Service, under the Department of Agriculture with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) under the National Agriculture Research Institute. Salifu Puye, the governor of the Lower River Region, in his opening remarks, elaborated on the importance of the training, describing it as timely. As he put it, the training came at a time when the country is moving towards food-self sufficiency. "This laudable initiative taken by government to curb the importation of rice into the country by 2016 needs to be supported by all and sundry," he urged. Governor Puye then encouraged Gambians to be innovative, so as to enable the country move away from food dependency to become a nation of food self-sufficiency. The LRR governor acknowledged that the initiative to become food-sufficient is a challenge, but he noted that it is something, that is, also attainable in the sense that the government has already paved the way forward, by coming up with good agricultural policies and programmes that saw the implementation of various agricultural projects across the country. The deputy director of Food Technology Service, under the Department of Agriculture, Seedy Fofana, explained that the training on rice- processing and value-added chain mainly targets women farmers and food processors in West Coast and Central River Regions. He said the training, which is being organised by his department and funded by the Canadian International Development Project, is meant to equip participants with technical knowledge on how to improve their agricultural production and productivity in The Gambia. The overall objective of the training, Fofana added, is meant to increase and ensure food security in The Gambia, through the improvement of rice post harvest handling, processing, marketing and development of new rice-based products. For his part, Ebrima Saidy, the director of Agriculture in LRR, harped on government policies towards agriculture, saying all efforts are geared towards building a food self-sufficient nation. According to him, they are now moving away from small-scale agricultural production to large-scale agricultural production and productivity. Director Saidy then described the training on rice-processing and value-added chain as not only important, but also timely in the sense that it enhances and equips participants with technical knowledge on how to improve the land. He challenged the participants to take the training seriously, emphasizing that they are the few participants selected out of many. The director of Agriculture in LRR also urged them to disseminate the skills and knowledge gained from the session to various communities. Bakary O. Camara, the country coordinator for the CIDA project in The Gambia explained that the training for women farmers and food- processors is part of the objectives of the CIDA project, under the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI). He further explained that the Canadian government funded the CIDA project, which he added, is currently being implemented in eight (8) countries in West and Central Africa.