 
Contact Address Details:
FAO
Gambia
FAO Building East Street
PMB 10, Banjul capital hq
Fajara 'M' Section
1 Garba Jahumpa Road
(near Sabena Junction)
The Gambia , West Africa
Tel no: +220 4498034 / 4463216
Fax:
4498036
Email: FAO-GM@fao.org
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Information:
The objectives of the Food and Agriculture Organization assistance
programmes in Gambia are to assist the Government to maximise
crop & domestic food production & benefits to farmers,
strengthen the livestock industry, integrate the agriculture
& livestock sub-sectors, thereby increasing food self-sufficiency,
dietary protein & improving nutrition & the quality
of the rural population.
Furthermore the FAO aims to diversify the agricultural production
base, upgrade horticultural production systems, handling,
marketing and storage of horticultural crops, developing and
effectively operating rural finance systems in collaboration
with the Central Bank; support poverty alleviation programmes;
promote the management of natural resources for sustainable
development and review fisheries development to maximise the
contribution of industrial fisheries to the national economy.
The Gambia benefits from the following FAO Regional Projects:
International Cooperation with the Nansen Programme: Fisheries
Management and Marine Environment;
Evaluation of Production, Multiplication and Distribution
Systems of Improved Groundnut Germplasm in West and Central
Africa;
Development
of Communication Techniques for Peoples Participation;
Forestry Outlook Study
for Africa;
Sustainable
Fisheries Livelihoods Programme;
Implementing the International Code of Conduct on the
Distribution and Use of Pesticides in Sahel Countries;
Advisory Services for Fisheries
Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in West Africa;
Sustainable Forest Management
in Africa;
In July 2008 the FAO launched its emergency rice
programme in West Africa.
In September 2008, the Government of The Gambia and the Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) signed the FAO-funded
Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) Support Project for
Sustainable Aquaculture Systems.
The Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) was launched
by the Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)
in 1994. Focusing on low-income food-deficit countries, the
SPFS was endorsed in Rome in November 1996.
The programme aims at supporting The Gambia and other countries
in their efforts to:
Improve their nation's national food security through rapid
increases in productivity and food production on an economically
and environmentally sustainable basis;
Reduce year-to-year variability in agricultural production;
Improve Gambian peoples access to food;
The SPFS is a multidisciplinary programme with a strong emphasis
on meeting peoples needs directly by raising farmer's net
income, generating rural employment, increasing social equity
and promoting gender sensitivity.
Implementation of SPFS takes place in two stages, referred
to as the Pilot phase and the Expansion phase. The Government
of The Gambia has responded positively to the FAO initiative
of SPFS and tripartite agreement has been signed between the
Government of The Gambia, The Government of Bangladesh and
FAO. The programme is expected to be funded by the Islamic
Development Bank, possibly with the cofinancing from the African
Development Bank and the Common Wealth Secretariat.
Nine experts and technicians from Bangladesh have arrived
to the Gambia to implement the first phase of the Programme
together with the Gambian Government and rural communities.
The first phase consist of four components:
Small-scale water harvesting, irrigation and drainage systems
using rainfall, water runoff, small streams, ground water
etc.; and agricultural land development to secure production
against the vagaries of the climate.
Intensification of sustainable plant production systems
with the transfer of adequate technologies accessible to all
and the effective use of high-yielding varieties, integrated
plant nutrition systems, integrated pest management and appropriate
post-harvest methods.
Diversification of production including aquaculture and
small animal (poultry, sheep, goats etc.) production.
Analysis of constraints to food security; special attention
will be given to the analysis of socio-economic constraints,
by gender and by specific groups, to the expansion of the
first phase in particular access to technology, land, input,
storage, marketing, processing and credit facilities.
It was reported on the 4th September 2003 Bangladesh will
send over 30 field technicians and experts to the Gambia to
work with local experts, as part of a quadripartite agreement
signed between the two countries, funded by the Islamic Development
Bank and supported by FAO.
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