Gambia - Peri-Urban Smallholder Improvement Project

The Peri-Urban Smallholder Improvement Project is part of the Government's objectives to increase agricultural production. This should help to combat low agricultural incomes, soaring rural poverty and household food insecurity, as well as to halt the rural exodus. The design of the project concentrates on vegetable production and rearing small livestock, with which the beneficiaries are familiar. Improvements in the health, nutrition and management of small ruminants, all of which are poor, and provision of irrigation facilities to vegetable gardens, would increase the production of vegetables and animal products. At project end it is expected incremental production levels for crops should increase as follows: 400 tones of vegetables, 1360 tons of cassava, 350 tons of sweet potatoes; for livestock products: 26.4 tons of sheep and goat meat, 5.26 tons of poultry meat, 11.68 tons of rabbit meat and 56,000 eggs. The project comprises four main components, namely: (i) Horticulture Development, (ii) Livestock Development, (iii) Capacity Building and (iv) Project Coordination.