Burama Dampha, the winner of GYIN Gambia’s Rural Youth Award category of Best Processing and Value Addition Business of the Year 2019, on Tuesday, 16th July, 2019 was handed over a Groundnut Cracking Machine, as first disbursement from his award cash prize.
Presented by the Business Development Officer of the Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS), Mr Banky Njie, the presentation was held at Latrikunda Sabiji where the machine was bought.
The presentation was also witnessed by the GYIN Gambia Executive Director Mamadou Edrisa Njie, the two GLEN interns at GYIN Gambia by the name Rebeka Anna Szél and Deborah Rammrath as well as the Chairperson of the Rural Youth Award, Mr Sarjo Jarju.
Speaking on the occasion, the P2RS Business Development Officer congratulated the winner for receiving the award and encouraged him work hard to serve as a champion in his community.
During the selection process, he recalled that it was a hard selection and difficult choice to make by the committee in choosing 10 winners out of 30 nominations.
He noted that all the nominees are winners as they were able to showcase their talents and potential as young entrepreneurs. After receiving the first award payment, he said they will be monitored and assessed whether they are able make milestone in order to receive the next payment of the award prize.
Mr Njie advised the winner to utilized the machines wisely in providing services and processing in a bid to meet his business objectives.
For his part, the GYIN Gambia Executive Director, Mamadou Edrisa Njie thanked the P2RS Project for co-funding the Rural Youth Award 2019.
According to Mr. Njie, the annual Rural Youth Awards recognises and celebrates the success of rural youth in entrepreneurship and agribusiness and to provide some financial support to deserving agribusiness players to not only grow their business, but serves as an encouragement for them and others to stay in Agriculture and contribute to increasing food security and at the same time enjoy the benefits of running their own businesses.
Young people, he added especially the rural youths, lack the capital, the networks, the training and the support to take their small businesses to national and/or regional scale.
“All they need is a ‘helping hand’, some luck – someone to believe in them and take a chance on them.”
Njie explained that it was following the success of the previous awards and the Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Information Technology (ELIT 2018) National Youth Summer Camp, GYIN Gambia have the confident to organize another Rural Youth Award gears towards creating rural enterprises.
“The inclusion of rural youth in decision-making and celebrating their success is a priority for GYIN Gambia thus P2RS Project has been supportive in creating rural enterprises.”
He also encouraged the winner to be hardworking and steadfast in his work so as to inspire the younger ones.
He adds: “GYIN Gambia’s partnership with projects, especially the P2RS project has broadened rural young entrepreneurship as well as build the confident and self-esteem of many rural youth and has inspired them to become entrepreneurs’,”
He also encouraged the winner to be hardworking and steadfast in his work so as to inspire the younger ones.
Receiving the machine, Burama Dampha, a native of Kabakama in Basse expressed delight to the P2RS Project for co-funding the Rural Youth Award in supporting the young people.
He also thanked GYIN Gambia for coming up with the Rural Youth Award to address the plight of young people through awarding them cash prizes.
As the proprietor of BD Enterprise which mills millet, coose and process groundnut in his village, Dampha said he will use the machine to crack large quantity of groundnuts per day, as he is already working on fixing price for each bag.
He started his business in 2016 with the vision to be the leading and most preferred milling service in Kabakama Basse URR, Dampha have employed five (5) Young People.
In this year’s Rural Youth Award on 27th April, 2019, Mr. Burama Dampha was among the ten (10) selected Rural Winners of different categories with a cash prize entitlement of D35,000.00 each.