By Zainab Jobarteh
The Vice President Mohammed B.S Jallow last week received in audience at his office Dr. Jyotsna Puri, the Associate Vice President for Strategy and Knowledge of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
The visit was aimed to strengthen collaboration between IFAD and Gambia Government, to explore avenues for furthering agricultural development initiatives in The Gambia.
Discussions centered on the ongoing ROOTS project, and the inauguration and inception workshop of the AICRM project.
For the ROOTS project, Dr. Puri said they are proud to work with the government to ensure that they are able to deal with challenges such as salt water intrusion; and work with communities and the government to improve agricultural productivity.
‘‘The important thing,’’ she explained, ‘‘is to recognise that we can try and find some of the impacts that are important for small holder farmers in this context’’.
For the AICRM project, Dr. Puri said they are committed to seeing that there is an integrated farming system adopted by small holder farmers within The Gambia ‘‘because we know that climate change is a huge challenge, especially for the vulnerable farmers’’.
She commended the government’s commitment to the collaboration and its dedication to agricultural advancement.
Vice President Jallow reiterated the government’s commitment to prioritising agricultural development as a cornerstone of national progress.
