By: Dawda Baldeh
During the April 2022 National Assembly campaign, empowering women was one of the lavish promises made by several candidates to get votes from women in various constituencies.
To honour this promise, Honorable Gibbie Mballow, the National Assembly Member for Lower Fulladu West Constituency has vowed to fulfil the campaign promise he made to the women gardeners in Madina Umfally village.
Recently, he revisited the community to gather first-hand information on their challenges as he wants to address them.
Speaking at the Madina women’s garden, Hon. Mballow thanked the villagers, particularly women for fulfilling their promises.
“The women have fulfilled their promise and I will also fulfil mine. I will not rest until their garden is properly fenced with adequate water in it,” he told women gardeners.
The lawmaker is said to be the first Lower Fulladu representative to have visited the Madina Umfally women gardeners and was accorded a warm welcome in the village.
He expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome accorded to him by the women.
“These women are hardworking and all they need from the government, or anyone is to give them a conducive environment. I will engage the president to make sure they are supported,” he added.
Binta Jallow, head of the women gardeners, and Jomfolo Sanneh a gardener stressed the importance of the garden in the community.
“The garden is our major source of income. We used the money generated in the garden to support our families.
The country is facing numerous challenges and we are contributing our part in supporting our families. We want to make sure that our husbands will only buy rice, meat, and fish the rest of the ingredients we will provide from the garden,” said Binta Jallow head of the women gardeners.
They expressed optimism that Honorable Mballow will help address their challenges.
Work in the garden measuring about five hectares is mostly done by women with support from a few men in the village.
Maduwa Sinera, a village youth described the women as hardworking why urging people to support their initiative.
“The garden is very important to us because the women are providing a lot of vegetables that if you are to buy every day will cost you huge amounts of money,” he stated.
Research has shown that community gardens can mitigate some of the problems that plague urban areas. They can be a beneficial addition to many communities by increasing the availability of nutritious foods, strengthening community ties, and creating sustainable living conditions for dwellers among others.
