Africa-Press – Gambia. 25 March 2021, Banjul – Representatives of The Government of the Gambia, Civil Society Organizations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have renewed their commitment to strengthen partnership and accelerate actions to address challenges in Agriculture and the Natural Resources sectors for sustainable national socio-economic growth and development.
They made the pledge at a two-day review and planning meeting focusing on the 2018 – 2022 FAO-Gambia Country Programming Framework (CPF) and its successor framework for the period 2023 – 2027. The current CPF addresses four government priority areas to guide FAO support and partnership with the Government of The Gambia. The CPF is informed by the nationally defined sector priorities and objectives expressed in the National Development Plan (2018 – 2022), UNDAF (2017 – 2022) as well as regional and global commitments including the Malabo Declaration, the African Union Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda (SDGs). The CPF takes cognizance of the Government’s prioritization of the SDGs, which ranked SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 16 as high priority.
The annual event organized by the FAO Country Office brought together over 40 people drawn from the government ministries responsible for Agriculture and the Natural Resources sectors and their technical departments, and Civil Society Organizations involved in the implementation of the CPF to deliberate on outcomes of 2021 Programming Cycle and to discuss and define the actions for 2022. The meeting also accorded stakeholders the opportunity to brainstorm on the key priorities to be embedded in the next CPF cycle, which places high premium on the transformation of the Agri-Food Systems for the achievement of the Agenda 2030.
Addressing the opening ceremony on Wednesday, Mr. Hassan Jallow, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture praised the gains made over the year in the quest to transform the country’s agri-food systems to make them more inclusive, productive, resilient and sustainable.
He said the government is committed to the achievement of the priorities set out in the national, regional and global development agenda noting that his Ministry has keenly monitored the CPF implementation and its achievements. He said; “The Ministry of Agriculture and FAO has worked hand-in-hand to ensure that the priorities jointly set by government and FAO in its CPF are achieved. It is worth noting that one remarkable achievement from the collaboration with FAO was the articulation of the Gambia’s National Pathways for food systems transformation in support of the agenda 2030. This is a big achievement”,
Mr. Ismaila Danso, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters also acknowledged with appreciation the numerous successes registered by his ministry and its specialized department thanks to support from FAO through the CPF. He described FAO as a “a true and dependable” partner of the government and people of the Gambia.
In her statement, Ms. Moshibudi Rampedi, FAO Country Representative said; “Food insecurity, malnutrition, land degradation, climate change and its related impacts in the Gambia are still some of the issues the Government faces and areas where it must take action to live up to its commitment to achieve the National Development Plan 2018 – 2022 and Agenda 2030.
“Achieving Zero Hunger – Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) and Agenda 2030 is at the core of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) mandate.
“This gathering marks a critical milestone for the strong partnership between the Government of The Gambia and the United Nations and by extension, our development and resource partners notably the European Union and the Global Environment Facility as we accelerate actions towards the implementation of the National Development Plan 2018 – 2022 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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