16 June 2013: As part of a series of long-term investments in the Gambia, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is celebrating the successful closure of the Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Project (PIWAMP) and the scaling up of its successor, the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema).

IFAD highlights that PIWAMP created new access to land and infrastructure in communities that were previously cut off from fields during the rainy season. They described an increase of maize, millet, peanut and sorghum production and a doubling of household food security. The program’s construction of dikes and spillways resulted in the reclamation of 47,000 hectares of productive land. Access between communities and fields resulted in substantial growth in economic opportunities.

The Nema project builds on the successes of PIWAMP and gives the government responsibility for implementation in a way that empowers rural women and young people. Nema is helping to distribute drought tolerant seeds, improving production tools through local innovation, and training youth in sustainable entrepreneurship, thereby linking agriculture to industry and services. [Rural Poverty Portal News]