27 Dec 2012

THE GAMBIA / LAND RECLAMATION

A government project in the small West African nation of The Gambia has so far reclaimed more than 34,000 hectares of degraded land for agricultural use. IFAD

Posted at: December 27, 2012 3:19 pm

Duration: 03:31

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

STORY: THE GAMBIA / LAND RECLAMATION
TRT: 3.31
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE  
LANGUAGE ENGLISH / WOLOF / NATS

DATELINE: SEPTEMBER 2012, BOIRAM, THE GAMBIA

SHOTLIST:

1.	Wide shot, women planting rice
2.	Med shot, women planting rice
3.	Med shot, woman planting rice
4.	Close up, hands planting rice
5.	Med shot, Awa Jagne planting rice
6.	SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Awa Jagne, Rice Farmer:
"In this place, nothing used to grow. Water only accumulated here for short periods. Even the weeds didn't grow well here."
7.	Med shot, Awa Jagne pounding food with pestle and mortar
8.	Close up, Awa Jagne's face pounding
9.	Close up, child on Awa's back
10.	Tilt down, Awa's face to pouring food in pot
11.	Med shot, women cooking
12.	SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Awa Jagne, Rice Farmer:
"We are responsible for the household's basic necessities like food, school fees and clothing. That's why when women don't have money it is always a problem."
13.	Close up, rice in bowl
14.	Med shot, Awa and family eating
15.	Med shot, women eating
16.	Med shot, Awa eating
17.	Wide shot, Awa in rice field
18.	Close up, spillway
19.	Tilt up, from water to Awa in rice field
20.	Tilt up, Awa weeding
21.	Wide shot, swampland
22.	Tilt down, rice field
23.	Close up, Mama B. Ceesay hands pouring rice into bowl
24.	Med shot, Mama pouring rice into bowl
25.	Close up, rice pounded
26.	Wide shot, women pounding rice
27.	SOUNDBITE (English) Moses Abukari, IFAD Country Programme Manager, The Gambia:
"The productive land is being utilised by the men. Women don't have any area to farm. So we realised that with simple technologies, it's possible to support a country to get more land and then women can produce rice because rice is a staple food in the country. " 
28.	Med shot, woman cooking
29.	Close up, woman's face 
30.	Wide shot, spillway
31.	Wide shot, women walking through rice field
32.	Med shot, Mama walking through rice field
33.	Med shot, Mama husking rice
34.	Close up, hands husking rice
35.	Close up, Mama's face
36.	Close up, pouring rice into bowl
37.	Wide shot, Mama pouring rice in bowl
38.	SOUNDBITE (English) Moses Abukari, IFAD Country Programme Manager, The Gambia:
"The commercial banks - one of the reasons that they have said they don't want to go to rural areas is the high risk of agriculture because it's seen that agriculture is highly seasonal and high risk."
39.	Med shot, women in village savings and credit association
40.	Med shot, Mama sits in front of clerk
41.	Close up, Mama
42.	Close up, clerk
43.	Close up, application form
44.	Med shot, clerk handing form to Mama
45.	Close up, clerk counting money
46.	Med shot, clerk handing money to Mama
47.	Med shot, Mama and donkey cart
48.	Wide shot, Mama and donkey cart
49.	Close up, Mama
50.	SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Mama B. Ceesay, Rice Farmer:
"Now any time my family comes there is food to serve them. Even non-family members, I'm happy to serve anyone who comes to my house."
51.	Wide shot, women working in rice field
52.	Med shot, women working in rice field
53.	Close up, hands working in rice field
54.	Close up, spoon in porridge
55.	Close up, child eating porridge
56.	Med shot, Mama eating porridge with children

STORYLINE:

It's the end of the rainy season in the Gambia, a time when food stocks are normally low. While the men work in the more fertile upland areas, the women here farm rice, usually on very unproductive, degraded land.

SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Awa Jagne, Rice Farmer:
"In this place, nothing used to grow. Water only accumulated here for short periods. Even the weeds didn't grow well here."

As the fourth wife of an elderly man, Awa Jagne is the main provider for her six children. And she says that it is women who often bear the responsibility for feeding their family.

SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Awa Jagne, Rice Farmer:
"We are responsible for the household's basic necessities like food, school fees and clothing. That's why when women don't have money it is always a problem."

But this year she has nothing to worry about. Unlike many others in the country, she is still feeding her family with last year's harvest, and she's also selling the excess.

This is all due to a very simple technology. A number of dykes and spillways, like this one, have been built here – and they now retain the water that used to flow away, making the land far more productive.

They were built by a government project that reclaims and develops degraded land to use for agriculture. Nearby, they are also turning swampland into farmland. So far, more than 34,000 hectares have been reclaimed.

Funded by IFAD, the UN agency tasked with eradicating rural poverty, the aim is to increase the production of food and people's incomes. And to do this, says the organisation's country programme manager, Moses Abukari, women must have access to productive land.

SOUNDBITE (English) Moses Abukari, IFAD Country Programme Manager, The Gambia:
"The productive land is being utilised by the men. Women don't have any area to farm. So we realised that with simple technologies, it's possible to support a country to get more land and then women can produce rice because rice is a staple food in the country. "

But it's not enough for women to have just to have access to arable land.  They also need the funds to develop and expand their production. But commercial banks are reluctant to invest in rural areas.

SOUNDBITE (English) Moses Abukari, IFAD Country Programme Manager, The Gambia:
"The commercial banks - one of the reasons that they have said they don't want to go to rural areas is the high risk of agriculture because it's seen that agriculture is highly seasonal and high risk."

So IFAD supports local village savings and credit associations which are run by the farmers themselves.

Mama B. Ceesay was the fourth person to join her local association, and there are now more than 2,000 members. After regularly depositing her savings, she became eligible for a loan.

With her loans, Mama has doubled the size of her land and has bought a donkey and cart to help her transport her increased yields. Not long ago, Mama battled to grow enough food to feed her children – now she has more than they need.

SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Mama B. Ceesay, Rice Farmer:
"Now any time my family comes there is food to serve them. Even non-family members, I'm happy to serve anyone who comes to my house."

More than 80,000 people, like Mama and Awa, are now benefiting from farming on the reclaimed land. And as more women gain access to productive land and finances, more families will have food all year round.