By Fatou Bojang
With the goal to develop and upgrade cashew value chain linkages necessary to support an integrated, regional trade network, the United States Department of Agriculture and Shelter For Life International together with the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders recently held a meeting about the LIFFT-Cashew project.
The meeting was held at the Ministry of Agriculture conference hall in Banjul.
According to officials, the USDA/LIFFT-Cashew built and rehabilitated six cashew nut warehouses; trained 3,943 farmers on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP); 6,483 farmers applied Good Agricultural Practices on 17,567 hectares of cashew plantations; 5 tree nursery managers trained and supported with 2 modern shaded nursery structures; 6,546 cashew trees planted, including 2,519 grafted cashew seedlings.
Fakhriddiu Ku?iboev, Chief of Party USDA LIFFT Cashew project, said the agric minister is very supportive of the project including activities such as corporate development, access to finance, and facilitating access to markets and the project’s alignment with gov’t policies will also support agriculture growth through regulations and research support, thus will definitely contribute to the overall success of the project and contributing to the economic growth of the sector by expanding storage spaces and rehabilitating existing ones.
MOD Secka, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, said government is working through the cooperative system to ensure that distribution of goods is done in a transparent and revolving environment to ensure that resources are circulated effectively, so that people involved can use it as credit to sell and make profit and return the initial investment.
Secka added that in order for equipment to be effective, there is a need for a strong maintenance system, which creates opportunities for community members to participate in maintaining the equipment, which will not only ensure their effectiveness but also take responsibility for their upkeep.
