By Olimatou Coker
The Resilience of Organisations for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture Project (ROOTS) Tuesday held a day-long policy dialogue with the National Assembly select committee on agriculture and rural development.
The forum was held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre under the theme “The role of the National Assembly in supporting and oversight of National Development Projects”.
The objective of the policy dialogue is to provide relevant stakeholders, especially government officials involved in project formulations and implementation, the opportunity to better understand the role of the National Assembly in relation to project approval, resource allocation, and oversight.
The forum also seeks to enhance synergy between government departments and the National Assembly in the efficient planning, allocation, and utilisation of scarce national resources.
It also provided the members of the National Assembly with the opportunity to hear from officials involved in project formulation as well as implementation.
Mamour Alieu Jagne, Roots project director, said every three months they select a theme around which they invite relevant stakeholders with the objective of identifying challenges and proposing solutions at the policy level.
He said institutions don’t usually face many challenges while formulating projects, but the moment you start implementation, you will come across challenges.
He said the National Assembly has a specific role and function with respect to oversight.
Jagne urged all his colleagues, particularly those coming from the ministry of agriculture, to take advantage of the opportunity.
Sariyan Jobarteh, the deputy director at the department of agriculture, said the presence of the National Assembly Members at the policy forum is a key milestone.
The chair of the National Assembly select committee on agriculture called on all project directors and coordinators to try and emulate Roots.
