Dr. Jaiteh, 

Ramadan mubarak. 

State run farm aka equals Jammeh farms. Reducing Gambian youths to stipend recipients instead of full independent employment...talk about controlling the people; their earning capacity and independence? Blurring the line editorial a while back: http://gainako.com/?p=964

Thanks

Demba

On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 8:25 AM, Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Can someone help us here? Is the 600ha area in question the old (1990s)  Jahally Pacharr rice scheme? Does it mean the land is being re-allocated to the Ministry of Youth and Sports?   What happened to the old arrangement, i.e.,  Ministry of Agriculture working with local farmers?
 
Minister said farm will provide job opportunity for 300 youths. In the same breath says "the youth farms are meant to assess the young people's level of response to the Gambian leader's back to land clarion call" and that young people will be camped and paid some stipend to cultivate the farm.  

Where are the funds for the camping and stipend coming from? If the youth are paid stipend then who owns and controls the produce?

Is the Youth Agriculture and Fishing Initiative (YAFI) an arm of the APRC Political Bureau or just a coincidence that the administrative secretary of the APRC Political Bureau happens to be the chairman to the YAFI? 

I sincerely hope this government quickly learn that, re-possessing farmland from life-long farmers just to established state-run farms is no way to feed a nation,  if that is their goal.

Malanding Jaiteh

600 hectares of rice to be cultivated in Jahally Pacharr

Africa » Gambia

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

The minister of Youth and Sports has revealed plans to cultivate a 600-hectare rice field in Jahally Pacharr, Central River Region. Alieu Kebba Jammeh was speaking to the Daily Observer in Sapu on day-five of his nation-wide tour various youth farms in the provincial Gambia.

Minister Jammeh is accompanied by the ‘Youth in Agriculture and Fishing Initiative’,-a youth committee setup by the Ministry of Youth and Sports with a view to encouraging Gambian youths to venture into both agriculture and fishing. The youth and sports minister said the farm will provide job opportunity for about three hundred youths.

The nation-wide tour which led the minister and delegation to various youth farms was meant to assess young people’s level of response to the Gambian leader’s back to the land  clarion call.

The tour followed His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh’s dialogue with the people’s tour in which he made a sweeping call on the entire nation particularly the youth folks to go back to the land and eat what they grow. The tour also availed the Youth in Agriculture and Fishing Initiative committee the opportunity to meet the young people across the country in order to know their constraints.

Minister Jammeh, while addressing scores of youths in Sapu, disclosed that the proposed 600 hectare farm would be cultivated by the young people whom he said would be given the opportunity to camp together purposely for that. He spoke of government’s resolve to allocate   an undisclosed stipend for the youths who will be working on the farm. “We want this project to be expanded if this one is successful so that the nation’s drive towards food self-sufficiency could be realized,” he stated. He added that the proceeds of the youth farms would be further invested in Agriculture to make the sector more lucrative for the youths.

The national youth mobilizer Pierre Minteh, expressed confidence in the young people of CRR, while commending them for their willingness to shoulder such a huge responsibility in the interest of nation building. He challenged the youths of the region to be more proactive in the drive towards food self-sufficiency and urged them not to betray the trust bestowed on them by the country’s leadership.

For his part, the administrative secretary of the APRC Political Bureau, who is also the chairman to the Youth in Agriculture and Fishing initiative, Bakary Jaiteh, reminded the youths of CRR that it is only through commitment and loyalty that they can achieve their draem.  He called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to try and address the constraints and respond to the requests made by the youths of the country, particularly those willing to work for the interest of the nation. He called for concerted efforts among the youths of the country irrespective of their individual differences for the success of the farms.

A youth leader in CRR Alhaji Muhammed Fatty reaffirmed the dedication of the young people of his region to the president’s call. He challenged the Ministry of Youth and Sports to work side-by-side with the Ministry of Agriculture to expedite the implementation of the farm.

The Regional agriculture director of CRR Kasim Touray said the 600 hectare rice field requires huge investment and hard work noting that the land has not been cultivated for a long time. A youth leader Dawda Mballow also assured the delegation of the readiness of the youths of the area to participate in the cultivation of the farm.

A senior agricultural officer in the region, Muhammed Tambajang called for the timely support of the ministry and youth and sports.

The delegation also visited various youth farms in Upper, Central and Lower River Regions.

Author: Bekai Njie

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