By Modou Jatta
President Adama Barrow on Tuesday launched a set of transformative agriculture projects totaling $68.4 million, signaling one of the largest investments in the country’s agricultural sector in recent years.
The funding, provided through the African Development Bank (AfDB), aims to tackle food insecurity, modernise farming practices, and foster climate-resilient agriculture across the country.
The projects identified as Programme to Strengthen Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2P2RS), the Gambia Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending Establishment Project (GAMIRSALEP), and the Regional West Africa Resilience Rice Value Chain Development Project (REWARD) are part of a strategic effort to strengthen resilience, promote inclusive growth and improve access to finance within The Gambia’s agricultural sector.
Implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, these flagship projects are designed to collectively tackle chronic food insecurity, stimulate agricultural productivity and unlock inclusive financing mechanisms for farmers and agribusinesses.
At the official launch ceremony—attended by government officials, senior advisers, and farming representatives—President Barrow highlighted the urgent need for bold solutions in agriculture, emphasizing the use of digital technologies and smart farming to achieve food self-sufficiency and reduce youth unemployment. The new projects are designed to:
President Barrow described the projects as “transformative blueprints” that reflect his administration’s commitment to achieving national food sovereignty while strengthening rural livelihoods.
“Today marks a major step forward in our journey to reduce our dependence on food imports, and empower our farmers,” he said. He said the projects are not only about producing more food, but also, building resilience, creating jobs and ensuring that agriculture remains a viable and profitable venture for generations to come.
He revealed that the P2-P2RS will cover the NBR, CRR and WCR targeting 67,200 vulnerable Gambian households while the REWARD project will target 8000 households directly and 120,000 indirectly across seven agricultural regions in the country.
“My government recognises agriculture as the backbone of our economy and the key to ending poverty and hunger, through our National Development Plan 2023-2027 and the second-generation National Agricultural Implementation Plan for Food and Nutrition Security 2019-2026,” the president stated.
He assured that the ministry of agriculture through the CPCU will be held accountable for delivering tangible life–changing results for each and every beneficiary. However, he warned that no aspect of these projects should be reduced to mere paperwork.
Hatem Felleh, from AfDB applauded the Gambia for taking a proactive stance on food security and pledged continued technical and financial support.
“The vision of the Gambian agriculture sector is to develop a pathway towards food and nutritional self-sufficiency, poverty reduction, food import substitution and cross–cutting development indicator”.
