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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
ABOUT THE GAMBIA
PROJECT LOCATION
WHY AGRICULTURE
GENDER EQUALITY
THE ORGANIZATION’S WISH
ENGAGING WESTERNERS
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
Penyem Jamorai Relief Organization is a non-profit relief organization with headquarters in Toronto Canada, that aimed to help the rural farmers of Africa with food, medicine, and clothing to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, and poverty. PJRO dedicated to providing food to the agrarian people and creating sustainable development. A key goal is to help needy families move past needing help and into becoming self-sufficient members of their community, through long-term, self-help development programs. PRJO is a Canadian non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Toronto with the desire to helping the poor rural agrarian communities in the Gambia West Africa to attain sustainable livelihoods. Working, in partnership with the rural villagers become self-reliance with food production and clean drinking water supply
ABOUT THE GAMBIA
 The Gambia is located on the west coast of Africa. It hugs the Gambian River which runs into the Atlantic Ocean.
It gained its independence from the UK in 1965 and formed a short-lived federation of Senegambia with Senegal between 1982 and 1989. In 1991 the two nations signed a friendship and cooperation treaty. A military coup in 1994 overthrew the president and banned political activity, but a 1996 constitution and presidential elections, followed by parliamentary balloting in 1997, completed a nominal return to civilian rule. The country undertook another round of presidential and legislative elections in late 2001 and early 2002. Yahya A. J. J. JAMMEH, the leader of the coup, has been elected president in all subsequent elections.
The total land area is 11,300 sq km; 10,000 sq km is land and 1,300 sq km is water. The population is about 1.5 million (June 2005) . The climate is tropical; hot, rainy season (June to November); cooler, dry season (November to May). Natural resourses include fish, titanium (rutile and ilmenite), tin, zircon, silica sand, clay, and petroleum. Aboaut 25% of the land is arable with permanent crops occupying 0.5% of the land. Ethnically, The Gambia is African 99%, (Mandinka 42%, Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli 9%, other 4%), non-African 1%
PROJECT LOCATION
 The Gambia has been primarily an agricultural country. Penyem Jamorai Relief Organization is focusing its attention on ten rural villages located In the Western Division, just south of the city of Brikama. The villages are Penyem, Manduar, Demba Njai Ya, Sidiya, Basori, Talokoto, Marakissa, Jalambantang, Busura, and Nanatto. Historically these settlements were established as a stepping stone to having Gambians take full control of their lives.
Typically, each village has about 1000 inhabitants. Within each village there is great ethnic diversity--a clear indication that villagers cna think and work together to build a better community. This strong tradition of peacefulness and respect for each other was the reason why the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights was created in 1989 by a bill of The Gambian parliament with the vision "to promote in co-operation with other African and interantional institutions, the observance of human and peoples' rights and democratic principles throughtout Africa".
WHY AGRICULTURE
Agriculture provides the tools and means to help rural agrarians in the Africa to increase their crop yields. By increasing the amount of quality food produce, poverty and hunger will be lessened, food security will be enhanced and the farmers would become self reliance. PJRO viewed sustainable agriculture development, as the key to reducing poverty and hunger among the farmers in Africa and to contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous communities.
Agriculture development project lead by the PJRO, would focus directly into the rural people who are the farmers. Rural agriculture development is about the agrarian comminutes their desire, hope and struggle to increase their food cultivation and live the life that they value. In this struggle to enhance food security, funding from government and private sectors would play a significant role. In Africa, poverty among the agrarian communities have created alienation and voiceless ness within the poor people. PJRO is passionate about helping the farming communities of these nine villages in the Gambia to increase their annual yield as well as help them improve their living situation.
The rural agrarians, each year struggle for a big harvest, for clean water, for education for their children for a chance to work their way out of poverty and food shortages.
The goal here is to helping rural farmers to create sustainable agriculture irrigation development and let the rural people become self-sufficient members of their own communities through self help development by increasing the amount of quality food production, poverty will be reduce and food security will be enhance the rural people will no longer feel vulnerable to any type of exploitation..
GENDER EQUALITY
Sustainable rural development through agriculture irrigation would be difficult to achieve without the full participation of women. In Africa, women are the major workers in the agriculture sector as well as post harvest activities around their individual families. Because of their experience in family matters such as providing and caring for their families they would become the major participant in the development project and in the decision making. PJRO wants to help promote the empowerment of women and equality between men and women. The organization, want the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable rural development. PJRO, want both women and men to have equal saying in decision making. Greater participation of women in sustainable rural development, would bring about men listening to women’s need, priorities and interest in development discourse.
THE ORGANIZATION’S WISH
The Penyem Jamorai Relief Organizastion (PJRO), wish to create a ground in which every woman, man and children would have the opportunity to enjoy good health, prosperity and live in peace and harmony with each other. Sustainable rural development through agriculture irrigation will bring about a change within the rural agrarian communities.
The situation in rural agrarian communities in Africa is dire. Farmers in the rural areas of Africa are all the time faced with the treat of hunger, starvation and malnutrition. The lack of sufficient annual rain fall could create massive food shortage.
Agriculture is the only sector from which the agrarian communities derive their income and both rural and urban people in Africa obtain most of their food which is produce largely by married woman and people with out education or skills for government employment.
The PJRO wants to contribute to the wellbeing of the rural agrarian communities by alleviating poverty and increasing agricultural productivity in rural areas since larger population of the unemployment are women and are the major farmers. PJRO want help to in creating the environment in which every man, woman and child have the opportunity to enjoy good health and live in peace with one and other.
ENGAGING WESTERNERS
In the rural communities of Penyem in the Gambia, one of the primary obstacles has been a lack of donors. The community at the rural level has identified agriculture irrigation as central to reducing rural poverty and hunger within the agrarian farming communities. Promoting sustainable rural development through agriculture irrigation, the community of the Penyem want to equitable and sustainable development the community aimed to create new opportunities for the rural poor. Sustainable agriculture development enhance food securityagricultural productivity and income promoting. In Africa, people in the rural areas could be seen that farmers most of whom are women and children need support form donors to increase their productivity. Helping the poor in Africa to escape poverty hunger and malnutrition through sustainable agriculture development is a great strength upon which the community will build a better life.
Contact
information
lamin.jarju@utoronto.ca
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