The Gambia
Introduction
The agriculture sectors in the Gambia employ roughly 70 percent of the population and generate 33 percent of GDP. The major crops consist of maize, sorghum, rice, millet, groundnuts and cotton. Crop production is dependent on rain-fed agriculture, making it vulnerable to rainfall variability. Besides shifting precipitation patterns, sea level rise threatens to inundate forest and mangrove areas and increase salinity levels in the River Gambia estuary.
To tackle these challenges the Government of The Gambia is working hard on climate change adaptation interventions, and welcomes the support of the NAP-Ag Programme in mainstreaming the planning of adaptation strategies into national planning and budgeting processes.
Project details
Adaptation policies
The Gambia has been working to formulate a comprehensive transformational national adaptation plan (NAP), led by the Department of Water under the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources. In 2007, the country submitted its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), which considered short- to medium-term needs and identified gaps and vulnerabilities. The Gambia’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC in 2015 contains a section on adaptation but the document specifies that a comprehensive adaptation investment plan would be developed separately. In 2018, the large-scale Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and supported by UN Environment, was launched in The Gambia, spearheading major efforts at conservation, sustainable utilisation of resources, and development of rural enterprises.
NAP-Ag activities
NAP-Ag activities in The Gambia will focus on; (1) strengthening individual and institutional coordination and capacities on hydroclimate information and gender-sensitive NAP process for agricultural sectors; (2) updating and mobilizing resources for the NAP roadmap, including sensitizating climate-sensitive budgeting and reviewing and updating the Agriculture and Natural Resources policy and The Gambia National Agriculture Investment Plan; (3) improving evidence-based results for NAPs through training on cost-benefit analysis and monitoring and evaluation of gender-sensitive adaptation options in agricultural sectors; and (4) outreach, knowledge-sharing and advocacy on NAPs.
Launch of NAP-Ag in The Gambia (2018)
The NAP-Ag programme was officially launched in The Gambia in March 2018, in the presence of the Ministers of Agriculture and the Environment, FAO and UNDP country representatives, as well as key stakeholders in environment, water resources, planning, finance, women’s organisations, civil society organisations, and the agricultural sectors.
Gender mainstreaming (2018)
A workshop was organized to strengthen the capacity of technical staff and decision makers to mainstream gender into agriculture and climate change policies and strategies, as well as the national development plan in The Gambia. More
Skills, capacities and institutional assessments (2018)
To identify challenges and opportunities, the Programme is conducting these assessments to establish a baseline for the upcoming Programme’s activities.
Signature programmes:
Key collaborators:
Implementing agencies and partnering organizations:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)
Project status:
Completed
Location:
Urban
News
Supporting ‘all-inclusive nation-building’ in the Gambia
> Laying the foundations for climate-sensitive budgeting and expenditure tracking in The Gambia
20 - 21 February 2019 – A two day workshop takes place in Banjul, The Gambia, to establish a methodology for climate-sensitive budgeting and expenditure tracking, which is a necessary foundation for ensuring long-term investments in national adaptation planning.
> Linking gender and climate experts for adaptation planning in The Gambia
22 May 2018 – In order to raise awareness on the gender dimensions of adaptation among key actors in The Gambia, the NAP-Ag programme organized a 2-day workshop in Jenoi Village, Lower River Region, 3 - 4 May, and convened twenty-one participants from non-profit's, academia, UN and government sectors.
> FAO and UNDP to fight climate change in The Gambia
9 March 2018, The Point Gambia - On Tuesday 6 March, The United Nation agencies in The Gambia - FAO and UNDP - launched the National Adaptation Plan to fight climate change through agricultural support and transformational adaptation policies that can be integrated into exiting national planning and budgeting processes.
Related Publications and Documents
