By Modou Kanteh
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) office in The Gambia on Thursday 24 August 2023, handed over agro meteorological tools and communication equipment worth about 5 million dalasis to the Department of Water Resources office in Banjul. The equipment was purchased through the Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change (AACC) project.
In handing over the items, the Dr. Mustapha Ceesay from FAO pointed out that building national capacity for climate services is critical for securing the national food systems under a changing climate. Adding that promoting and cementing collaboration between climate services providers and end-users at the local level is of a paramount importance.” Famers urgently need weather and climate information for operational decision-making and production planning,” Dr. Ceesay said.
According to Dr. Ceesay, FAO through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project, Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change (AACC) project is supporting the government of The Gambia to promote strategies for sustainable and diversified livelihood and to reduce the impact of climate variability and climate change in the agriculture sector. He said FAO is aware of the vital climate services the Department of Water Resources continue to provide in the form of daily weather forecast, maritime weather forecast, seasonal weather forecast and early warning bulletin among other things.
Deputizing for the Minister for Fisheries and Water Resources, the director of Water Resources Lamin Mai Touray applauded FAO for the support. He said the department of Water Resources has successfully released regular weather forecasts, early warning bulletin, according to him this is to ensure that every Gambian farmer and citizen receive timely and accurate weather information.
“With these agro-meteorological tools located across the country, our ministry will be able to increase the accuracy of our forecasts and monitoring, which will make Gambians safer and better informed,” the director told the FAO officials. He said part of the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources mission is to provide timely and accurate weather and climate data and information to safeguard the population and promote food security.
The occasion was chaired by Dr. Peter Gibba of the department of Water Resources. And a cross section of staff of the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources graced the occasion.
