President Barrow Commends Smart Farmers Association

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President Adama Barrow encouraged the Smart Farmers Association members to work with the Ministry of Agriculture to enhance food security in The Gambia when the group paid him a courtesy visit.

Speaking to a delegation of the Association at the State House on Tuesday 12th October, the President commended the founder, Mr. Alpha Baldeh, for returning home to initiate modern farming practices that would alleviate poverty. He said using less labor-intensive farming methods among its members would enhance productivity.

President Barrow thanked the members for taking up the ultimate responsibility to work toward food security. He informed them that the Resilience of Organizations for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture project (ROOTS) under the Ministry of Agriculture is constructing storage facilities in different regions, adding it will help farmers in food preservation and marketing.

Smart Farmers Association has over 2000 members, and 70% are women. They are engaged in producing, processing, and marketing organic food products all year round. They farm during the rain and horticulture during the dry season.

The President of the Association, Alpha Baldeh, told the waiting press that the President welcomed their initiative and promised to support them. He said they shared with the President the prospects of improving production through intelligent technologies.

‘As smart farmers, we presented his Excellency with solutions. How we can scale up production to reduce importation and not depend on chemical fertilizers,’’ he noted.

Presidential Adviser, Mr. Tamsir Ann, and Councilor of Jokadou, Ms. Awa Gaye, accompanied the delegation to the State House.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Office of The President- Republic of the Gambia.