By Amadou Jadama
The Gambia Food and Nutrition Association (Gafna) last week commissioned a newly fenced garden and presented vegetable seeds and farming tools to Bitta village, Foni.
The project funded by UNHCR is expected to provide the village with 2000-liters additional water tank to accommodate scores of women refugees displaced by the Casamance conflict.
Yusufa Gomez, executive director of Gafna said the garden is expected to create avenue for the scores of refugees living in the village since last year with no support apart from the cash transfer they received from the Gambia Red Cross.
He said the refugees are accommodated and fed by their host.
“We were here last year for an assessment on the living conditions of the refugees and through discussions with them and the villagers we realised that assisting them to rehabilitate the village garden would be the best option,” he said. Gomez urged the villagers to take good care of the garden and continue to make the refugees feel home.
The VDC chairman Tombong Sanyang commended Gafna for the support and assured them of his committee’s commitment to safeguard the garden.
The refugee community leader Serreh Sanyang expressed her gratitude to the donors and the villagers for the reception and care rendered to them.
Gafna, is a local NGO established in 1986 and currently the implementing partner for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supporting refugees living in both rural and urban areas.
