ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Penyem Jamorai Relief Organization is a non-profit relief organization with headquarters in Toronto Canada, that aims 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 is 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) 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 to attainself-reliance in food production and clean drinking water.

WHY AGRICULTURE

Agriculture provides the tools and means to help rural agrarians in Africa to increase their crop yields. By increasing the amount of quality food produced, poverty and hunger will be lessened, food security will be enhanced and the farmers would become self-reliant. PJRO views sustainable agriculture development as the key to reducing poverty and hunger among the farmers in Africa and to creating a more secure, equitable and prosperous community.

Agriculture development projects led by the PJRO would focus directly on the rural people who are the farmers. Rural agriculture development is about the agrarian comminutes, their desires, hopes and struggles to increase their food cultivation and live the life that they want. In this effort, funding from government and the private sector would have to play a significant role.

In Africa, poverty among agrarian communities has created alienation and voicelessness. PJRO is passionate about helping the farming communities of nine villages in the Gambia to increase their annual yield as well as help them improve their living situation. Each year, rural farmers struggle for a big harvest, for clean water, for education for their children, for a chance to work their way out of poverty and malnutrition. Our goal is to assist in the creation of sustainable agriculture irrigation projects, helping communities to become self-sufficient and less vulnerable to exploitation.

GENDER EQUALITY

Sustainable rural development through agriculture irrigation will 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 providing and caring for their families, they must become the major participant in the development project and in the decision- making process.

PJRO wants to help promote the empowerment of women and gender equality. The organization seeks the full participation of women as equal partners in the sustainable rural development. PJRO wants both women and men to have an equal say in decision-making. Greater participation of women in sustainable rural development, would bring about men listening to womenÕs needs, priorities and interests in the development discourse.

	Women are the primary agricultural workers and must form the backbone of any successful agrarian development program.

OUR GOALS

The Penyem Jamorai Relief Organizastion (PJRO), wish to create a situation in which every woman, man and child has the opportunity to enjoy good health, prosperity and a life of peace and harmony with others. Sustainable rural development through agriculture irrigation will bring about a change within the rural agrarian communities.

The situation in these communities in Africa is dire. Farmers in the rural areas of Africa are constantly faced with the threat of hunger and starvation. The lack of sufficient annual rain fall could create massive food shortage. Agriculture is the only sector from which these communities derive their income and both rural and urban people in Africans obtain most of their food without 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 the largest numbers of unemployed are women, the major farmers.

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 community. 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 security, agricultural productivity and income. In Africa, 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 is a great strength upon which the community will build a better life.