By Madiba Singhateh
Thirty-five (35) people have recently graduated from a 6-day training on bee keeping and honey harvesting organized by the National Bee Keepers Association of the Gambia (NBAG).
The participants were trained on the importance of beekeeping, processing and marketing, types of bees (pros and corns), beehives tools, bee forage, environmental apiary sitting, site collections, honey harvesting, pest and disease control.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Gerro Maane, a retired director of Agriculture Planning, serving as Bee Keeping Technical Assistance at (NBAG) said the training is an eighteen months project funded by GEF SGP to tune of Two Million Dalasi (D2,000,000). It’s part of larger UNDP led initiative that seeks to reduce economic and social vulnerable of the poor and marginalised population affected by climate change and COVID-19 through green and eco-friendly community livelihood interventions, focusing mainly on populations living around Wildlife Protected Areas in North Bank, Central River and Lower River Regions.
“The support focuse on generating and diversifying income opportunities related to horticulture,beekeeping, poultry and crafts” Maane said.
Maane said they trained 35 rural dwellers from communities living around the vicinityy of Jokadu National Park. The identification of the participants was done by the village Development Committee (VDC) of each community in consultation with the village Alikali, according to the organizers.
Kebba L. Jarju, the National Coordinator of the UNDP GEF Small Grant Programme of the Gambia, said the program from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is been implemented by the UNDP and it’s called the Small Grant Programme.
Jarju said the programme is for the NGOs, mainly civil society groups to tackle environmental issues such as climate change, environmental degradation, felling of trees and bush fires.
He stated that the programme is meant to build the capacity of CSOs, NGOs and community based organisations (CBOs) to fight environmental degradation and restore the environment and biodiversity, the oceans and waste management and elimination of chemicals especially in their food system.
Jarju addressed the 35 people who graduated saying they were trained to address environmental issues and also benefit the communities.
