By Omar Bah
The Gambia chapter of Global Youth Innovation Network (GYIN Gambia) will tomorrow stage the first ever rural youth award meant to recognise the efforts of enterprising youth in rural Gambia.
The Rural Youth Award 2017 (RYA2017) would be held at the Agricultural Rural Farmers Training Centre in Jenoi, Lower River Region (LRR).
Speaking to The Standard yesterday ahead of the award, the GYIN Gambia executive director Mamadou Edrissa Njie said they are expecting over three hundred participants from all walks of life.
“I am very happy to pronounce that, the award has already proven very successful. Frankly speaking the success of the award has already exceeded our expectation,” he said.
He said all their donors have all responded impressively and that the young businessmen and women in the rural area have proven to them “that their efforts are worth commendation.
“Though it is unfortunate that, we don’t have any award for the young social media of the year, we have already shortlisted 25 awardees out of 200 applicants for the award tomorrow. Among the awardees we have 10 male and fifteen females,” he said.
He said the response they are getting from the country’s ministries and other business consultancies outside the country is beyond their expectation.
“I would also like to call on the ministry of youth and sports to work collaboratively with the Gambian journalists, especially those who have columns focussing on youth. I would also like to thank all our donors for supporting the award,” he stressed.
The theme of the award is ‘we need young people in rural areas: We need them to produce, process and market, the food that will feed the world.’
The event is being organised with the financial and logistical support of the International Trade Centre (ITC) through the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) The Gambia, European Union Trust Fund for Africa, the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema), and National Youth Council (NYC).
