The Agency for the Development of Women and Children (ADWAC), a local NGO based in the North Bank Region, recently organised a day-long validation workshop for stakeholders on vegetable marketing research and community action planning at a ceremony held at the UNAID Resource Centre in Kerewan.

The programme, which was centred on presentations and discussion on the draft report, attracted participants from government institutions, NGOs and other partners. Speaking at the ceremony, the executive director of ADWAC Mam Samba Joof underscored his agency’s intervention in the North Bank Region since they took over from Save the Children in 1996.

According to Mam Samba Joof, his agency, in 2007, commissioned a vegetable marketing research in the Njaba Kunda Eco-Zone to assess the economic viability of the women vegetable gardens in the Eco-Zone with a view to formulating effective plans and programs to address constraints encountered by vegetable growers.

He went on to urge participants to take the workshop seriously and come out with good recommendations in order to pave the way forward.  

For his part, Burang Danjo, chairman, board of directors, ADWAC, thanked the agency for their timely intervention in the region adding that vegetable production is a major economic activity undertaken by women in the North Bank Region.

According to him, vegetable production is a lucrative business but the lack of an organised marketing structure has hampered the development of the business in the region.

To effectively develop the horticultural sector, Mr  Danjo said there is the need to formulate programmes to address market constraints faced by growers.

He, however, expressed hope that the outcome of the programme will help in overcoming the issue of marketing.  He finally urged the participants to look at the report carefully in the interest of national development.  He further urged them to share the information gained from the workshop with their colleagues.