By Fatou B. Cham
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, through the Roots project has been working on empowering the youths and women of The Gambia.
Under sub-component 1.2 (Agricultural Services Provision), the ROOTS Project is tasked to finance at least 240 youth-led small businesses. Eligible businesses will include: (i) mechanised agriculture services; (ii) agriculture transport services; (iii) agro-dealerships; (iv) maintenance of agricultural equipment (e.g. drip irrigation pipes); and (v) digital technologies for agriculture services (ICT, drones, agricultural service apps). The youth-led businesses will mainly focus on the provision of services to the value chains.
In financing youth-led businesses, the project launched the first batch of its Youth Based Matching Grant (YBMG) and awarded 39 young Gambians engaged agricultural entrepreneurship in 2022. The support was up to $7,500.00 and the categories included are agriculture transport services, agro-dealer shops, agro-food processing, mechanised agricultural services and ICT. The intervention is meant to empower youths, create jobs, change their lives and give them livelihoods.
From 2022 to 2024, ROOTS has awarded 125 youths including migrant returnees. Since then, the beneficiaries were supplied with materials, their operational costs taken care of, and their capacities built through trainings and three months coaching and business mentorship.
Beneficiaries of the mechanised agriculture equipment received specialised training on the operation and maintenance of their equipment.
The implementation of the Youth-based Matching Grant scheme has given the project high visibility and created an impact in the lives of the beneficiaries as they reported significant increase in their income, in addition to creating jobs for youth within their communities.
According to the Project’s Business Development Officer, Fatoumata Sanyang, the Youth-based Matching Grant, with particular focus on youth and women, is designed to address several key challenges and opportunities within the agricultural sector which include:
Youth Empowerment: The grant aims to empower young people by providing them with the necessary skills and resources to engage in agri-business which is crucial in addressing high unemployment rates among youths.
Economic Development: By supporting youth and women in agriculture, the programme contributes to economic development. Agriculture is a major sector in The Gambian economy, and enhancing its productivity can lead to increased incomes and improved livelihoods.
Support for Women: The grant specifically includes women, who often face greater barriers to accessing finance and training. By targeting women, the programme promotes gender equality and economic inclusion.
Modernisation of Agriculture: By offering financial resources for mechanisation and farm processing equipment, the grant helps modernise agricultural practices. This leads to higher productivity, better quality products, and reduced labor intensity for our local farmers.
Value Addition: The grant supports value addition for local produce for rice and vegetables through food processing. This increases the profitability of agricultural products, creates job opportunities, and encourages local consumption of processed foods.
Testimonies of the
beneficiaries:
Jewru Susso, a 32-year-old migrant returnee from Dandu village in Upper River Region was among the 39 Youth-based Matching Grant beneficiaries. The Project supported him with a tricycle and processing equipment including drying machine, 2 refrigerators, milling machine, blender, jars, bottle, packaging bags, operational cost, coaching and digital training, online marketing among others.
Jewru, a Songhai Benin trainee offers transport services to women gardeners from his village and surroundings, taking their produce from the gardens to the market in Basse. He is a food processor who makes and sells food products like baby foods, locally called dukula; tomato paste and jam; pepper sauce; groundnut cake; locust bean powder; shrimps’ powder; mango juice and jams; among others. He is a horticulturist and offers food processing training to the young people in his community and surroundings. He is also the president of the regional food processors of Upper River Region.
Jewru said the ROOTS intervention has benefitted him and his community in the sense that it became a source of income for him (employment), as he offers transport services to women gardeners in his community, as well as provides food commodities that were not available before the intervention. “On another aspect, I do help my community in transporting the sick to the hospital particularly women, when they are in labour,” he said. Currently, Jewru has a healthy account of about D100,000.
He affirmed that he benefited from a three-month coaching and mentoring programme through the Gambia Youth Chamber of Commerce.
He recognised that the project deeply invested in fostering local entrepreneurship and economic growth, and sponsored the stalls for the YBMG food processors to showcase their products at the Gambia Chamber Commerce Industry (GCCI) Trade Fair to a wider audience. This was meant to promote business development and expose the beneficiaries to the international market thereby creating market linkages for them.
“My participation at the GCCI helped me network and expand by market linkage, most importantly it boosted my sales. I came home with more than D30,000, part of which I reinvested and added some to my savings. It also exposed me to the international market”.
“Moreover, the ROOTS intervention gave me the opportunity to help my community by offering services that were not available before. ROOTS made me create employment opportunities for three people (2 female in my food shop and a male the driver of my tricycle),” Jewru added.
He further unveiled that he also conducts a lot of trainings in food security for the young people in the region, and that he is working on expanding his small garden to serve as source of supply for the raw materials in his food processing business.
“Over and above, in three to five years’ time, I want to expand my business to make more income for myself but also create job opportunities for the youths,” he concluded.
Sheikh Tambedou, native of Njoben, Misera, Lower Fulladou West District of the Central River Region South, is a migrant returnee who also benefited from the Youth-based Matching Grant Scheme. He ventured into business through the Grant after his return from Libya. He had this to say: “I was first using a donkey cart to buy groundnuts for sale at the market and transport the women who sell at the market”.
He acknowledged benefiting from tricycle donation from ROOTS Project last year. He also attested benefiting a lot more from the project together with the women he transports from the market to the communities.
