The tour which began in the village of Jah Kunda took the team to eight communities in the region.
On a visit to a woodlot garden in Jah Kunda, the executive director and coordinator of the project, Nfamara Jawneh disclosed that the purpose of the tour was meant to assess the impact of the project on the livelihoods of the beneficiaries.
“During the past 12 months we have been working with eight communities in the area on an environmental project, Promoting Energy Efficient Cooking Stoves among Disabled Women and Enhancing Rural Empowerment in Wuli. As part of the project, we have provided among other things, improved cooking stoves to 100 disabled women, trained them on the effects of climate change and entrepreneurship.
“We also gave them soft loans to start or strengthen their existing small scale businesses and supported the establishment of woodlot gardens. I am very satisfied with the level of community participation throughout the project implementation and I would like you to keep up the momentum. The competition that was earlier announced at the commencement of the project is still on course with three best performing communities to be awarded cash prizes and certificates in recognition of their outstanding performance”.
Also speaking during the tour, Mr Alhagie B. Gaye from a partner institution Renewable Energy Association of The Gambia (REAGAM) applauded the beneficiary communities for their efforts in making the project successful.
Mr. Gaye said that he was “overwhelmed with the successes registered by the project and called for more community empowerment to boost rural development.”
For his part, the program officer of Beakanyang, Tumani Danjo said the woodlot gardens supported by the organisation, when sustained, could have a lasting impact on the lives of the beneficiary communities.
He disclosed that the project sites visited formed part of their GEF small grant program supported activities.
The team visited the villages of Jah Kunda, Sutukonding, Sare Ngai, Kuwonkunding, Madina, Kerewan, Sutukoba and Barrow Kunda
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