The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently brought together fifty participants for the annual Portfolio Review of the Global Agriculture for Food Security Program (GAFSP) at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center in Banjul, The Gambia. Participants in the AfDB agriculture department included staff members from the World Food Program (WFP), GAFSP task managers, project coordinators, monitoring officers, procurement officers, accountants, and senior government officials from The Gambia.

The performance, accomplishments, difficulties, and lessons discovered from the GAFSP portfolio were the main topics of the review. Additionally, participants went to the Kalagie vegetable women’s garden, a fruitful GAFSP project backed by solar-powered irrigation equipment and climate-resilient vegetable seedlings.

The Gambia’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Demba Sabally, commended the AfDB and GAFSP for their unwavering assistance in changing the agricultural sector to reduce poverty, ensure food security, and generate wealth. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Mod Secka, emphasized the project’s significance by pointing out that it directly benefits about 9000 Gambians.

Mr. Malick Ndiaye, Deputy Director of the WFP, emphasized the collaborative effort among the AfDB, the government of The Gambia, and WFP in achieving the project’s success. Philip Boahen, AfDB’s GAFSP program coordinator, praised the program’s impact on smallholder farmers, announcing an additional $12 million grant for the GAFSP Gambia project. He also shared updates on GAFSP’s recent restructuring, including the creation of a Business Investment Financing Track (BIFT) to provide financing for SMEs in the agricultural sector.

The AfDB Group Board of Directors initially approved a $16 million grant for GAFSP in September 2021, supplemented by $1.37 million in counterpart funding from the government of The Gambia. The additional funding reaffirms the AfDB’s commitment to enhancing food and nutrition security in The Gambia.