By Landing Ceesay
Israel government donated agricultural equipment and a borehole reserve tank to the University of the Gambia (UTG).
The donated items by the Israeli government through its Deputy Ambassador to The Gambia are meant to help the students of the University of The Gambia (UTG) School of Agriculture to learn a modernized way of agriculture.
While speaking at the presentation ceremony, His Excellency Waleed Gadban, the Deputy Ambassador of Israel urged the management of UTG to make sure that their students get the curiosity to invest in agriculture; adding that, Israel would not have been where it is now, had it not been for good agriculture.
“Israel cannot be at the position where it’s today without good Agriculture. Even with the vast technology we are having, we would not be where we are today without agriculture. The donation made today is for the acting Vice-Chancellor to give curiosity to the students to invest in agriculture, to request agriculture because agriculture is not the last resort; it is a choice that we make to implement in the society, economy and community.
“I want you to make sure that the students of UTG get the curiosity to invest in agriculture. Also to investigate the new tools and new methods so that they make agriculture better. This is the essence of Israel in agriculture. Because without curiosity we will be doing the same exact things that our fathers and grandfathers did in agriculture,” Israeli Deputy Ambassador said.
Meanwhile, Professor Pierre Gomez, the acting Vice-Chancellor of the University the Gambia (UTG) said the donation of the irrigation equipment and the borehole reserve tank came at the right time.
“We are very pleased that Israel and the government of Israel decided to help the Gambia and UTG in particular in different areas. We are very grateful to Israel for helping us. I am very happy that the School of Agriculture is benefiting from this initiative. Because it is coming at a time when the school is revamping its programmes so that in the very near future, we will move from what we used to do to have the theoretical aspects, but then also having practical. Agriculture is not literature, so there is a need for practical,” Professor Gomez said.
The presentation ceremony took place on Wednesday at the University of the Gambia Peace Building Conference Hall in Kanifing.