Gambia : A Female Farmer Feeding her Village

The village of Boiram is now a model for most communities producing rice in The Gambia primarily because of all the support provided by WAAPP in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture. As a result of the use of highyielding rice varieties introduced by WAAPP’s innovation platform, Ms. Jane Diagne’s is now a thriving female farmer that many others look up to.

The introduction of the Sahel 134 variety, the adoption of 21 agricultural best practices and the provision of agricultural inputs in time by the WAAPP Gambia has induced a rice yield increase of about 500%. This has motivated the women and youth of the village, to invest in the production of upland rice fully.

At the moment, yields have increased from roughly 1.2 tons to 4.5 tons per hectare. This has considerably improved the economic situation of Ms. Diagne. She says she can now afford to educate her two daughters and take care of her household. Before the implementation of WAAPP in her village, she used to sell small ruminants to meet the needs of the family.

Ms. Diagne and other rice farmers from Boiram have diversified into the production of rice seed.

With the new farming skills acquired, Ms. Diagne is able to equip and improve her farm and help other producers. She has provided seeds to up to 20 small-scale rice farmers in her community and become a role model and champion in rice production in the district of Fulladou.

Furthermore, she is now able to participate in decision making in her community actively and confidently interact with local authorities.

She has significantly improved her knowledge and understanding of gender and climate change issues. She is now able to train and educate other women on nutrition and health issues.

Ms. Jane also invented 4 rice recipes (rice cookies, cakes, Chakeri and other products) that are appreciated by consumers.