Friend, this is fine news.

If this great news. After my first visit to the Gambia in ´78 I made a plan
how to build agricultural, horticultural cooperatives, with dairies,
slaughterhouses, a transport system. And since that day I have been waiting
for someone to explore the possibilities. I have in 98 payed visits to the
ministry of trade in Banjul to get their development plan of action, because
I from those days in 1978 believed that The Gambia could make it to become a
food-production country with an export to not only west-africa, but to
Europe also. And I have asked our danish representative in The Gambia if he
had told any danish companies about the possibilities in investing in the
gambia, because we as a country has experience from all over the globe in
that area. 
I have look here in Denmark and found f.in. that we import fresh mango,
canned mango from Taiwan, vegetables from outside europe, so why should the
Gambia not be able to do so. And I have talk to people in The Gambia, why
has the government not subsidized that important area. If the cooperatives
has a stable production, and the infra-structure is build,
cold-transport-containers can collect and bring to a factory and later for
export.

Now I understand that someone has seen the same. I wish them all the success
they can have.

Asbjørn Nordam

on 18/08/00 3:48, Habib Ghanim, Sr at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> FYII
> source China Times
> 
> 
> 2000.08.18¡@1:35am Taiwan time updated
> 
> Chen to Be Welcomed to Gambia with Produce From
> Taiwan-Assisted Farms
> 
> Banjul, Gambia, Aug. 16 (CNA) Republic of China President Chen
> Shui-bian is expected to be accorded with not only
> a formal military salute, but also a welcome kiss offered by the
> most beautiful lady in Gambia when he arrives in the
> capital of Banjul on Sunday.
> 
> The lady is a representative from a Gambian women's group which in
> recent years has been up-and-coming, gaining its
> reputation through the planting of vegetables that have contributed
> to improving Gambian families' economic situation.
> 
> When Chen and his 200-member entourage fly into Banjul from Costa
> Rica on Sunday, the first ROC head of state to
> ever visit the African country will be welcomed with a long line of
> tables covered with fresh vegetables and fruits
> cultivated at farms in the suburbs of Banjul under the technical
> guidance of members of an ROC agricultural mission.
> 
> The ROC agro-tech mission has helped develop four model vegetable
> farms near Banjul, with members of 300 local
> households taking part as planters.
> 
> The four model farms, on a combined tract of 40 hectares, have
> marketed produce which immediately earned a
> reputation for the planters in the second harvest. Orders have even
> come from England and Ireland for the vegetables,
> said Chen Yi-sung, chief of the ROC agro-tech mission.
> 
> The harvests have not only improved the households' incomes, but
> have also turned the farms into a sort of tourist
> attraction in recent months, Chen added.
> 
> Apart from the planting technique, the ROC mission also applied
> Taiwan's precious experience in organizing farmers'
> cooperatives to the Gambian planters, allowing them to organize
> their own cooperatives to serve farmers in various
> fields, Chen noted.
> 
> From the cooperative, Chen said, the planters acquire high-quality
> seeds imported from Taiwan, fertilizers, and other
> needed equipment and materials.
> 
> With one-fourth of the profits derived from every sale of the
> vegetables being channeled into the cooperative bank, the
> farmers will have enough funds to acquire new farm machinery, to
> maintain the land, and to secure a good public
> irrigation system.
> 
> In addition, Chen said, the cooperative offers low-interest soft
> loans to the planters and also scholarships to help
> promote education for the children of farmers.
> 
> Commenting on the achievements of the ROC agro-tech mission, ROC
> Ambassador to Gambia Lee Chen-hsiung, who
> was largely instrumental in arranging the ROC mission to lead the
> Gambian model vegetable farm development, said
> the vegetable plantation project has proven to be a quick success in
> efforts to promote friendship and to help improve
> the locals' livelihoods.
> 
> Lee said he is proud that the ROC agro-tech mission has harvested so
> much with relatively little effort. He attributed
> the achievements to an inspiration he got from the fact that some
> four decades ago, the United States granted Taiwan
> US$15 billion in aid to help the island develop its own agriculture,
> proving to be an important force behind Taiwan's
> economic take-off in later years.
> 
> 
> 
> China Times Inter@ctive Main Page (in Big-5
> Chinese)
> 
> Contact us¡[log in to unmask]
> 
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