Almost two-thirds of The Gambia’s agricultural labour force grow vegetables and raise small ruminants and poultry. Much of this farming is done by kafos. Small farmers, who are mainly women, need to acquire better skills and expertise to take part in the growing competition for domestically grown food. The Livestock and Horticulture Development Project will help 10,400 small-scale rural producers increase their incomes by improving and increasing the yield and quality of their horticultural and livestock products. To help these producers increase their incomes, the project will introduce formal contracts encouraging farmers to produce high-quality market products. Young people are also targeted through the establishment of pilot gardens and market-oriented small ruminant and poultry production units.

The project has adopted a mentoring approach to effectively reach the most vulnerable people within target areas. The active involvement of communities in a participatory monitoring and evaluation system, the use of a voucher-based remuneration system for extension services, and the introduction of performance-based contracts for service providers are expected to pave the way towards improved local governance. Moreover, the project will provide practical support to the kafos, thus enabling farmers to build on their existing activities and improve their use of increasingly scarce water and land resources.

Other project activities include:

• Rehabilitating and modernizing existing kafo-run production units, with appropriate sheds, animal housing, a multipurpose water-use system and fencing
• Providing starter kits containing inputs, breeding stocks, day-old chicks, appropriate animal feeding instructions, small equipment, vaccination programmes, etc
• Training kafos in good agricultural practices, improved husbandry practices and group entrepreneurship development
• Strengthening kafo marketing capacity for identifying and negotiating contracts with traders and suppliers
• Supporting community-based extension delivery services
• Creating links with existing microfinance facilities supported by IFAD’s Rural Finance Project to enable farmers to access credit

Source: IFAD