The Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) Network Thematic Group in the Gambia is working to promote collaboration among the country's four agricultural training centres. Each centre focuses on a particular area of expertise - agriculture, agroforestry, livestock and rural development - and promoting the links between them is vital to improving national competence in agricultural training.
Seeds and tools for vulnerable farmers Some 65 000 vulnerable farmers in Liberia are benefiting from a typical FAO/WFP joint project. WFP looks to cover immediate food needs, while FAO provides the basics for longer-term recovery and self-sufficiency. FAO is providing seeds and tools to the Liberian farmers, while WFP provides "seed protection food" to those cultivating rice, so that the seeds are planted and not eaten. WFP is also providing food-for-work rations for farmers growing groundnuts and vegetables. |
The Thematic Group - made up of representatives from the UN system (FAO, the United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] and WFP), the government, civil society and donors - started work with the agricultural training centres by organizing a field trip to each of them. This helped in determining the centres' current status and activities, identifying constraints faced by staff and establishing a mechanism for supporting training activities in a coordinated manner.
As a follow-up to the field trip, the Group brought together staff from the training centres at a Consultative Forum held at Jenoi Training Centre in February 2001. After the Forum a work and cooperation plan was drafted. The plan calls for the establishment of a network (the Gambia Agricultural Training Centres Network); the sharing of annual work plans; the creation of a databank of resource persons in the centres; the publication of a newsletter and the production of radio programmes drawing on contributions from all the agricultural centres in the country. The Group is now preparing a list of potential donors to support the continued development of agricultural training centres in the Gambia.
