Donations strengthen agricultural efforts in Gambia

Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh has since 1994 vowed the attainment of food self-sufficiency in the country through agricultural means. 

His prospect for an intense agriculturally productive country has strengthened with the donations of multi-purpose Dri Prime High Capacity pumping machines, that will allow The Gambia to grow food for its own domestic use and become an export productive country. The pumping machines will also boost economic production around the River Gambia.
The pumping machines will facilitate rice production, even during the dry season, providing vast capacities and benefits to the government's commitment for food security
One of the pumping machines can cover over 25 square miles and is one of the strongest industrial pumps utilised in the world right now. The pump can be programmed to run by itself for months, and can be used for irrigation and mining.
The Gambia Emergency Agricultural Production Project (GEAPP) also donated seven power tillers, seven bags of fertilisers, seven rice tracers; seven seeders, seven sine hoes, 200 litres of pesticide and four knapsack sprayers. The GEAPP commended the devotion and importance of President Jammeh's commitment to agriculture.
The GEAPP was a complementary project to the recently completed Africa Emergency Locust Project (AELP), a project established in 2005 that was funded by the EU for the total of 5.3 million Euros.
The project was founded to strengthen he country's capacity in controlling and mitigating locust infestations and their effects. The GEAPP aided the second phase of the AELP, to stimulate the production capacities of those affected by the locust invasion in 2005.
The objective of the GEAPP is to enhance the agricultural production and productivity of 20,000 farmers countrywide. The GEAPP has two components. Component A was the provision of agric inputs and equipment that allowed the Gambians to procure and distribute 525 metric tonnes of certified seeds countrywide during the 2010 seasons. Six hundred villages benefitted.
The second component is the rehabilitation of 30 village seed stores countrywide and the strengthening of three seed multiplication centres to ensure year-round production to supply farmers.