VISION
To create an enabling space where young women and men in the Gambia can channel their creativities, potentialities and vibrancies in transforming their communities through self-sustaining socio-economic and cultural opportunities that provide the next generation with a decent life.
MISSION
GYIN Gambia Chapter is committed to capitalize on the global and national entrepreneurial spirit of young women and men to overcome poverty and build healthy society for the Gambian community.
GOAL
Support women and youths in the areas of innovation, agribusiness, leadership and entrepreneurship through capacity enhancement, networking, coaching, mentoring, volunteering and service learning as well as fostering partnership with businesses, development organizations, educational institutions, community-based organizations, and other youth-liked minded institutions in order to contribute to the overall mission of goal and the national development plan of the country.
GYIN Gambia Chapter is a non-profit and non-political business support organization specialized in rural development, supporting market linkages and access to markets. GYIN Gambia under its programs has supported businesses with a focus on developing the export capabilities of small and medium-sized businesses in developing and transition them. The network projects and programs contribute to the global efforts to achieve United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the Aid for Trade agenda.
The network is empowering returnee migrants, women and youths with self-reliant skills, so they can initiate to improve their market linkages. The network supports returnee migrants, women and youth in the areas of innovation, agribusiness, market linkages, and entrepreneurship through capacity enhancement, networking, coaching and mentoring. GYIN Gambia has regional coordinators across the country facilitating and supporting the network’s programs for returnee migrants, women, and youth with self-reliant skills.
. GYIN Gambia Chapter was selected by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2012 as a leading youth mobilization network for agricultural development in The Gambia and fully participated in the designing of the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema Project), which is a US$65M IFAD/IsDB and AfDB co-funded project which started implementation from 2012–2019 inclusive and is directly benefiting: 28,729 households.
As a key stakeholder, GYIN Gambia Chapter is a nominated member of the Project Steering Committee for Nema project and has collaborated with the project for the implementation of youth related activities such as trainings and small-scale vegetable garden production. Also a member of the Nema Inter-Professional Body, a body which advices the project in implementation of project activities related to rice and vegetable production and value chain addition. The core focus of GYIN-Gambia in this domain is to mobilize the rural youth for effective participation in agro-entrepreneurship. Within the framework of the Nema project, GYIN Gambia Chapter participated in designing of the Strengthening Climate Change Resilience of the National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development Project (Nema-Chosso). GYIN-Gambia provided the youth perspective in the context of resilience building for the Nema interventions.
- In our training programmes, we use evidence-based training contents and apply action-oriented training approaches. Our market linkages are research-based information. We continuously re-evaluate our training programs to further deepen the theoretical and practical understanding of how our programs can be most effective in benefitting participants, societies, and cross border traders. To this end, we invest in creating new training designs and formats in line with the UN’s SDGs. Among these are…
- Digital training and project management formats to make training programmes accessible to a larger number of people and to actively manage our carbon footprint
- Training programmes that foster an enabling environment for cross border traders (SMEs), improve the cross-border environment and create a more sustainable entrepreneurial skills to promote business ideas and implementations with a positive impact on society and the environment
- Adaptations of training materials to underprivileged target groups with limited or no access to higher education
- Agripreneurship training programmes to foster sustainable growth in rural areas
- Cross border support measures in border communities with the broader national development agenda
- Training programmes for SMEs to promote wage employment and decent work conditions for SMEs in informal cross-border trade that often lack access to information on trade rules and customs procedures and suffer from weak entrepreneurial capacity.
OUR EXPERIENCE
- We are a team of experts guided by an Advisory Board of Directors with more than 10 years of combined experience in designing, conducting, and evaluating entrepreneurship training programmes (particularly the digital skills training and market linkages) in The Gambia.
- We have mixed academic backgrounds (Business Administration, Project Management, Education, Finance), and are all related to entrepreneurship.
- We have experiences in implementing training programmes in The Gambia. In this context, we have worked with project partners such as UNDP, UNESCO, EU, IFAD, GIZ and World Bank and community-based organisations.
OOUR TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND SERVICES
We promote market linkages and strengthening the entrepreneurial skills of women, youth, returnee migrants and improve their economic status through our trainings, coaching and mentoring, business advisory services and career guidance and counselling thus improve their livelihood opportunities and skills. The network is experience in delivering trainings in local languages (Mandinka, Wolof, Pular, Jola and Sarahulle)
GYIN Gambia Chapter since its registrations serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the closed Nema Project and participates effectively in IFAD Joint Supervision Mission for the project since its inception in 2013 to date. GYIN Gambia Chapter also participated in similar supervision missions for the former Participatory Integrated Watershed Management Development Project (PIWAMP), Rural Finance Project (RFP) and Livestock and Horticulture Development Project (LHDP) project, all projects under the Ministry of Agriculture, with co-financing by IFAD, the African Development Bank and the Government of The Gambia.
The network has existing structures across the country; Banjul City Council (BCC), Kanifing Municipality (KM), West Coast Region (WCR), Lower River Region (LRR), North Bank Region (NBR), Central River Region South and North (CRR-S/N), and Upper River Region (URR).
Regional Coordinators work closely with our partners in the regions, and they are responsible for coordinating and facilitating GYIN Gambia chapter activities both at municipal and regional level.