By Sailu Bah
Young Journalists Organisation of The Gambia (YJAG), on Saturday, 18 
October, 2014 celebrated its 7 years of existence at a ceremony held at the TANGO conference Hall.
The theme of the event, which brought together young journalists in the media fraternity, students from school based press clubs and partners organisations, was “the role of media in promoting Agricultural development and the attainment of food self sufficiency in the Gambia.”
Speaking at the ceremony, NFamara Jawneh, YJAG president, said they came into being upon the realization of the need to have a group that will be championing the course of young media practitioners in the Gambia.
Mr. Jawneh said the objectives of the association are to promote unity among young journalists in the Gambia, to provide capacity building for its members and to contribute to their socio-economic development through objective reporting as well as to promote press freedom and freedom of expression in the Gambia.
He added that YJAG has members in both the print and electronic media nationwide as well as upcoming journalists from school based clubs.
The YJAG president described the theme of the celebration as very timely, adding that, as journalists, they believe they have a very important role to play in promoting the attainment of food self sufficiency which, he added, is achievable if all hands are on deck.
Njundu Drammeh, Board Chairman of YJAG, in his address, started by saying that he thinks it is important to first ask themselves why they are there. He added that they are there because they are cerebrating their achievements and also want to re-energize and move forward.
Ousman Jammeh, Director of Agriculture, in his statement, said it is important for them to discuss issues about how to promote the development of agriculture and the attainment of food self sufficiency, especially in the arena of rice production and productivity.
He said the first thing he would like to emphasize is for the young journalists to acquire relevant skills about the journalism. He said the training with regards to the profession is fundamental.
The Agriculture Director, touching on the theme of the event, advised that the fundamental thing young journalists should do is to ensure that they have access to all the major documents developed by the ministry of agriculture or relating to agriculture to be able to report accordingly.
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