The Minister of Agriculture, Omar Jallow has recently commission the nominated national Continental Investment Plan for Accelerating Rice Self-Sufficiency in Africa (CIPRiSSA) data collection team.
The Continental Investment Plan for Accelerating Rice Self-Sufficiency in Africa (CIPRiSSA) is aligned to the commitments made in the 2003 Maputo and 2014 Malabo Declarations through the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP).
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Minister Jallow said The Gambia is positioned to become the 11th country for which CIPRiSSA will be developed, “Strategic priorities of The Gambia include the reduction of the growing gap between consumption and production and eventually achieving rice self-sufficiency and exporting rice across its borders.”
“The foundation on which this goal could be reached is the use of empirical data on the investment-demand-supply-consumption continuum of the rice value chain. This knowledge-based approach will analyze Gambia’s rice demand and supply, the push-pull continuum in the country’s rice value chain,” he said.
He said the results obtained from the proposed CIPRiSSA-Gambia study will provide important real-time evidence-based information derived from analyses carried out on the country’s data, on aspects and priority segments of the rice value chain in which investments should be made.
“The results will also project the time-line for achieving rice self-sufficiency if the required investments are made. Based on the outcome of the CIPRiSSA-Gambia study, policy makers and decision-takers in The Gambia could very confidently pronounce on deadline dates for reaching rice self-sufficiency as well as rationalize the organization of investments in the rice sector,” he added.
Minister Jallow further stressed that The Gambia would thus be joining a growing number of countries demanding credible information and analyses in the design and implementation of its rice sector development strategies and the need for the country to have an adequate and organized specific rice database.
“Which could be continually analyzed to provide information that would facilitate the process of not only reaching rice self-sufficiency but maintaining it, and preparing for exporting surplus rice produced domestically to regional and international markets.”
He continued: “The urgency for implementing appropriate strategies to realize the huge potential benefits from investments in The Gambia’s rice sector cannot, therefore, be over emphasized. I therefore strongly urged you all to work seriously on this national assignment.”
