AID grant to the Opportunities Industrialization Center, Inc. for the OICI agricultural and resettlement project in Gambia

OICI"s work in this field was begun in 1977 under project 9320076. Training will be provided for 30 new participants and 30 who began in 1980 will graduate. The student services department will offer credit, seeds, and fertilizer to achieve a 60% resettlement rate for new graduates and will also resettle 18 previous graduates. Off-site training will be provided as a mechanism to transfer technology to 60 established farmers, including many women, who are unable to leave their farms for extended periods of time. To provide animal feed at a lower cost, groundnuts and corn will be cultivated on 190 acres of land. (However, recent droughts will limit this activity"s impact on reducing costs.) Income will also be generated through the sale of 20 sheep, 30 goats, and half of the 2,000 chicks to be purchased for training purposes. To ensure the long-run viability of the project, a Gambia OIC Management Committee (GOICMC) will be established and trained to replace the project"s Board of Directors. The Government of The Gambia is expected to give official sanction to the GOICMC as well as to OICI"s training program in general. The GOICMC will initially provide project policy guidance and eventually assume full program operation (probably in 1985). Meanwhile, the GOICMC will be trained in the OICI philosophy and methodology as related to agricultural training programs. Early in the project, a feasibility study and an evaluation of the present program will be conducted to permit drafting of proposals to extend OICI training program funding until 1985.