Last week, a group of Gambian dignitaries visited Delaware.
The group included Gambian First Lady Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow and Minister of Agriculture Omar Jallow.
Jallow spoke to the General Assembly Thursday, outlining the country’s inspirations, which include a renewed commitment to the sanctity of human life and bolstering democracy.
“After Gambia has gone through terrible 22 years of the worst dictatorship in Africa,” he said. “We were totally isolated internationally. But now … with the advent of the new government, we are here … in your great state, to forge a collaborative, and outstanding, and sustainable relationship.”
The Gambian delegation was hosted by the Delaware Africa Caribbean Coalition, a group of Delawareans from Africa and the Caribbean working to forge diplomatic and business relations between their home countries and the First State.
“We felt that Gambia needed us much more than any other country, at this time in this year,” said Coalition Vice President Thomas Hen Grant.
Grant says Gambia’s recent political changes make now an opportune time for the First State and the small African nation to establish ties.
One of the ways in which the Gambian delegation hoped to establish ties was through agriculture.
Gambian Minister of Agriculture Jallow met with his First State counterpart, Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse, during the four-day visit.
Jallow says right now farming in Gambia consists mostly of subsistence crops—rice and peanuts. But he wants to help the sector go commercial, and start exporting crops, livestock and poultry.
And Scuse says that could offer Delaware opportunities in Gambia.
“We have the equipment companies here that are supplying our poultry companies. There’s a need for that similar type of equipment as they build their poultry industry,” he said.
According to Scuse, the UD Agricultural extension gave Jallow a presentation about poultry production during his visit.
And at Jallow’s invitation, Secretary Scuse says his office hopes to put together a trade mission to Gambia in the near future.
