By Adam Colley
The ROOTS project is significantly impacting The Gambia’s rural communities, with over 320,000 people benefiting directly from the initiatives. Focusing on empowering youth and women, the project has created new opportunities for young Gambians to engage in agriculture as a sustainable livelihood. Through training, access to modern farming tools and improved market access, young farmers are transforming their lives and contributing to the country’s agricultural development. The project’s efforts are not only increasing food security and resilience to climate change but also laying the foundation for a new generation of farmers who will continue to nurture The Gambia’s agricultural sector. With such wide-reaching benefits, ROOTS is proving to be a key player in shaping the future of farming in The Gambia. Aminata Bojang, a beneficiary of the project shared how she got involved in this project. She stated that she got involved in the project in the year 2022 when she was contracted to do a catering service for the people of Marakissa Garden.
She further explained that the West Coast Regional coordinator Mrs. Kaddy Bojang Saidy informed her about the ROOTS YOUTH-BASED MATCHING GRANT and encouraged her to apply. She went on to explain that she was lucky to be shortlisted in both the regional and national stages of matching grant. According to Aminata, she was assigned to a business plan consultant who helped her to develop her business plan for the matching grant and later meet with the national steering committee to defend her business plan, which was approved. Aminata also shared that she subsequently did her entrepreneurship training in Lower River Region (LRR) and later did a 3-month mentorship and coaching program. As part of the marching grant she was given a food processing machine to support her business. Aminata mentioned that the machine helped her a lot as it saved her a lot of energy, time, and resources.
She added that because of the machine, she has stopped going to the market to grind pepper, rice, Coos, and other food items. Moreover, she noted that Production used to be a hassle for her going to the market to purchase goods, clean them, and going back to the market again to grind them was tiring and expensive, but now she does not need all that stress with the machine. Aminata further underscored how her productivity has been boosted because of the food-processing machine. She confirmed that she does more production than before. She also expressed how life changing the ROOTS project has been to her livelihood. “Alhamdulillah the project changed my life and the livelihood of my family from contributing to the feeding of the family to helping pay some bills and also part of the children’s school fees,” Aminata noted
Ms Bojang added that the visibility provided to her by the project able her to meet and connect with various food processors and entrepreneurs from whom she has learned new things such as entrepreneurship skills and customer services. In conclusion, Aminata said she has plans to continue growing her business and skills with the support she received from the project. Adding that she is currently working on her processing centre, which is near completion. She applauded the project for empowering youth on life changing initiatives with sustainability.
