FAO hands over a cistern, and solar and water pumping facilities to the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources
Communities are supported to reduce food losses, improve incomes and food security
30 March 2021, Banjul – More than 200 fish smokers, most of them women, in the coastal town of Gunjur in Kombo South District, West Coast Region, rely on their fish-smoking skills as a source of income to provide for their families. Before August 2019, they preserved fish using open kilns, a traditional smoking method employing wood and cartons as a primary fuel source. However, these open-kilns are not energy-efficient. The contaminants they release undermine the quality and safety, affecting the marketability of the smoked-fish products. On top of that, they increase deforestation.
In a bid to address this problem, in 2019, FAO built and handed over a new and easy-to-assemble fish smoking and drying technology worth D1.9 million to the women fish smokers in Gunjur. Developing and implementing the FAO-Thiaroye fish processing technology (FTT-Thiaroye) significantly improves the small fishing communities' energy efficiency. It uses 50 per cent less wood fuel than traditional open-type smoking rafts. FAO also provided training for the beneficiaries on the effective use of the FTT.
However, inadequate access to reliable water and electricity supply hindered the utilization of the facility. In its continued support to the women fish smokers, FAO has also constructed cistern, solar and water pumping facilities for easy access to water and electricity to enable work during the night. The cistern is rain-fed and has a storage capacity of 50,000 litres, and the borehole fed tank has a 4,000 litres capacity. Electricity will no longer pose a problem as the solar power facility produces 1800 Watts of energy.
At a ceremony held at the FTT-Thiaroye facility in Gunjur, FAO Gambia's Representative, Moshibudi Rampedi, handed over the completed work worth GMD2, 270,493.75 to James Gomez, Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources. Speaking at the ceremony, Rampedi noted that the fisheries sector could increase its contribution to national socio-economic development and acknowledged the important role women play in the post-harvest sector of artisanal fisheries. She added that the non-compliance with sanitary requirements, especially for the European and the national markets, cause about 30% to 40% losses of the fish consignments. The FTT addresses the problems with fish quality deterioration and physical removal from the supply chain.
"We expect that helping the women fish processors and the community will reduce post-harvest losses and improve fish safety and quality. These may contribute towards improving incomes and food security", she said.
Rampedi said that the rain-fed cistern facility and the borehole-pumping system provide water that will enable the women fish processors to access quality water all the time during the smoking process. She added that the solar system and electricity would allow the women to process their fish late evenings, especially during the glut season or late landings.
In his remarks, Minister Gomez thanked FAO for the support noting that the facility would help the beneficiaries generate more income. He said that the Government would scale up the initiative by establishing four more facilities in different sites. Commending the women for their hard work, Gomez urged the women to make success stories
from the project to help inspire others. He assured them of his 'ministry's continued support in all aspects of their post-harvest activities to ensure they benefit fully from their work.
In her welcome remarks, Anna Mbenga, Director of Fisheries, noted that women in the post-harvest faced challenges that the ministry is constrained in addressing alone. She thanked FAO for the support with the FTT and water facility.
Mariama Ndong, one of the fish-smoker beneficiaries of the project, thanked FAO and the Ministry. She promised that they would commit to properly maintaining the facility and putting it to good use.