Highlight

The ECOWAS Regional Stabilization and Development Fund Gambia Pilot Project (RSDF Gambia Pilot Project) aims to improve the employment situation for young adults in The Gambia, thereby contributing to the country’s economic and social stabilization. The project target group is youth and young adults aged 16 to 35 engaged or interested in agro-enterprises across the horticulture, aquaculture, and poultry value chains in the Greater Banjul Area (GBA) that includes West Coast Region (WCR), Lower River Region (LRR), and Upper River Region (URR) where rates of irregular migration, unemployment, and underemployment in The Gambia are greatest, including women, returnees and non-migrants. 

As a result, GIZ Gambia contracted UPi Gambia to provide technical support for the promotion of Agricultural Value Chain Financing focusing on three commodity sectors (i) the poultry (ii) the fishery, and (iii) horticulture—demand side and supply side of finance.

The Challenge

Access to Finance (A2F) is a key enabler for youth to transform their business ideas into reality, expand their businesses and create jobs, or mitigate financial shocks. Yet Gambian youth encounter numerous barriers that prevent them from attaining those goals. Agriculture and agribusiness have been identified as one of the most sustainable and promising outlets for youth employment, given the Gambia’s huge hospitality and tourism market.

The Approach

The value chain concept allows the integration of the various players in agriculture production, processing, and marketing. Our work focused on improving financial services, products, and support services flowing to and/or through a value chain to address the needs and constraints of those involved in that chain to obtain financing or to secure sales, procure products, reduce risk and/or improve efficiency within the chain.

The Results

UPi’s value chain approach produced a diagnostic report of public policies and regulations affecting agriculture from production to commercialization, established linkages of activities from production to commercialization, identified and structured actors (both internal and external), and most especially gave better visibility for the financing of agricultural activities.