GIRAV supports review of draft Plant Health Protection Bill 2020

A two-day workshop designed to review the draft Plant Health Protection Bill 2020 is underway at the Conference room of the Central Projects Coordinating Unit (CPCU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security in Banjul. Participants include legal experts from the Attorney General Chambers and Ministry of Justice, Plant Protection experts, Parliamentarians and staff of the Department of Agriculture (DoA). The synergy forms part of ongoing efforts by Government to strengthen the national plant protection organization (commonly known as the plant Protection Services) with a view to making it more efficient and effective in the execution of its mandate.

The initiative is supported by the Gambia Inclusive and Resilient Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (GIRAV) within the framework of Subcomponent 1.3: Strengthening quality and sanitary and phytosanitary control systems. This subcomponent of the project is designed to contribute to the establishment of a minimum platform for a coherent food safety and quality control system, which is critical for Gambian agricultural products to access export markets and for managing food health risks for Gambian consumers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Alhagie Abdoulie Touray, Coordinator of the GIRAV Project and the CPCU underscored the importance of the forum. He noted that the project attaches huge importance to strengthening the country’s quality and sanitary and phytosanitary control systems in the quest to improve the business environment for commercial agriculture development in The Gambia. GIRAV’s investments within this framework will complement past and ongoing activities in food safety and quality, he noted.

Dr. Jerreh Manneh, Director, Plant Protection Services (PPS) in his introductory remarks acknowledge the support GIARV project has been rendering to his institution since over the past three years citing the refurbishment of a lab and the construction of an additional two laboratories to help enhance the operations of the PPS.  He underlined the importance of the proposed Plant Health Protection Bill to the country stressing that a plant health act will immensely benefit the country. He expressed optimism that participants will do justice to the assignment.

Hon. Omar Darboe, Chairman, National Assembly Select Committee on Agriculture and Rural development lauded the initiative. He said: “This is what we expect from project. We want projects to invest in areas which will greatly benefit the Gambian population. Hon. Darboe assured that his committee will support the enactment of the Bill.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Lamin Darboe, deputy Director for Administration at the Department of Agriculture described the draft Plant Health Protection Bill 2020 as a very importance national document. He said: “Our health is very much linked to the health of the plants and products we consume”. He explained that the bill is aligned to relevant legislations and standards (regional and global) with a view to help the country put in place a platform for a coherent food safety and quality control system which is critical for Gambian agricultural products to access export markets and for managing food health risks for Gambian consumers.