New Japanese grant-aid for food production announced

 

THE Japanese Government has agreed to provide agricultural inputs and machinery to The Gambia under its bilateral aid programme for increased food production, commonly called the second Kennedy Round (2KR).

This will be for the fiscal year 2001, the Department of State for Agriculture announced in a press release which said the arrangements were concluded by a Gambian delegation visiting Tokyo recently. The items are expected to arrive in The Gambia in the later part of 2002.

The two-member official delegation was led by the acting  permanent secretary, Mamadi  B. Ceesay, and included the director of Agricultural Services, Yaya Sarr.

Their mission from May 14 to 24 successfully completed negotiations with the Japanese International Co-operation Systems (JICS) acting on behalf of the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) for the supply by local firms of agricultural inputs and machinery worth 170 million Yen (equivalent to D17 million), the release said. 

"It is worth noting that since the resumption of the 2KR bilateral assistance in 1998, an amount of 150 million Yen was provided for each of the fiscal years 1998 and 1999, whilst 170 million Yen was provided for 2000 and 2001 fiscal years."

Under the bilateral agreements, proceeds from sales and loan repayments of the products are lodged in a deposit account with the Central Bank of The Gambia and the Accountant General's Department with the aim of supporting the farming community in The Gambia, the release added.

"In this regard, and in order to ensure that we meet the criteria for the use of the monetized resources, all farmers are urged to repay their credit on time. This will enable sustainability of the programme to the benefit of the farming communities."