Banjul disaster hot spots tackled ahead of rainy season

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul): The Banjul City Disaster Committee are putting in efforts to intensify measures to prevent the occurrence of flash floods that continued to cause havoc in the disaster hot spot areas of the capital city.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Observer, the Banjul City Disaster Management coordinator Hudul EN Colley pointed out that, in preparation for this year's rains, the government is currently rehabilitating the Bund Ponder station. He added that BCC is working closely with the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the National Disaster Management Agency, to install the pumping machine.

According to him, government has engaged the National Roads Authority to fill the portholes in all the disaster hot spot areas, along Tobacco Road.

He went on to reveal that the Banjul City Council has supported in the excavation of the drainage outlets, in order to allow water to flow into the ring canal; and also in the demolition of the dilapidated buildings in the city....

A view of Banjul, shot by Atamari, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons 3.0 license

Loss and damage from climate change

Science Daily: An open access special issue of the International Journal of Global Warming brings together, for the first time, empirical evidence of loss and damage from the perspective of affected people in nine vulnerable countries. The articles in this special issue show how climatic stressors affect communities, what measures households take to prevent loss and damage, and what the consequences are when they are unable to adjust sufficiently. The guest-editors, Kees van der Geest and Koko Warner of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany, introduce the special issue with an overview of key findings from the nine research papers, all of which are available online free of charge.

'Loss and damage' refers to adverse effects of climate variability and climate change that occur despite mitigation and adaptation efforts. Warner and van der Geest discuss the loss and damage incurred by people at the local-level based on evidence from research teams working in nine vulnerable countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Micronesia, Mozambique and Nepal. The research papers pool data from 3269 household surveys and more than 200 focus groups and expert interviews.

The research reveals four loss and damage pathways. Residual impacts of climate stressors occur when:

• existing coping/adaptation to biophysical impact is not enough;
• measures have costs (including non-economic) that cannot be regained;
• despite short-term merits, measures have negative effects in the longer term; or
• no measures are adopted -- or possible -- at all.

The articles in this special issue provide evidence that loss and damage happens simultaneously with efforts by people to adjust to climatic stressors. The evidence illustrates loss and damage around barriers and limits to adaptation: growing food and livelihood insecurity, unreliable water supplies, deteriorating human welfare and increasing manifestation of erosive coping measures (e.g. eating less, distress sale of productive assets to buy food, reducing the years of schooling for children, etc.). These negative impacts touch upon people's welfare and health, social cohesion, culture and identity -- values that contribute to the functioning of society but which elude monetary valuation....

Turner's 1805 painting, "The Shipwreck"

Heavy storm hits Gambia, leaving two dead and 400 homeless

Alhagie F.S. Sora in AllAfrica.com via Foroyaa Newspaper (Gambia): Reliable information received from Niani District indicates that a heavy storm occurred there Tuesday night July 16th which led to the death of two people, several people injured, and over 400 hundred others rendered homeless.

According to an eye witness account, this incident happened between the hours of 20.00 hrs to 21:30hrs which lasted for about 1:30 minutes.

According to eyewitnesses,2 people namely; Fanta Barrow, a 70 year old woman of Tubakutoto village in Niani and Awa Njie,45 years, originally from Nuimi Bakindik village in the North Bank were visiting relatives at the time, died in the fatal incident on Tuesday 16 July 2013. The villages affected are Kayayi, Sukuta, Tubakutoto, Fula Kunda and Kuntaur Jakaba.

The report also reveals that Jakong Barrow, a 50 year old woman from Bajakunda in the Wuli East district who also came to visit her relatives in the area and Mariama Janneh, an 11 year old girl of Kuntaur Fula Kunda village, are all admitted at Kuntaur health centre.

The report stated that almost four to five hundred people are currently homeless including civil servants. It reveals that Kuntaur Fula Kunda staff quarters have its roof blown away. The report indicated that the storm which led to the death of these two people also destroyed more than 100 compounds....

In Gambia, FAO trains farmers on DRR, climate change

Samba Jawo in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul, Gambia): The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently held a two-day capacity building for farmers on Disaster Risk Reduction and adaptation to climate change at Somita Mixed Farming Centre in Foni, West Coast Region.

Representing the FAO country representative in Banjul, the assistant representative of FAO, Mariatou Faal-Njie, said climate change is a threat to food security. She therefore noted the importance of building the capacities of farmers on how to combat, prevent and mitigate climate change at community level.

Madam Faal-Njie said the focus of the training is to ensure that they build the capacity of communities and targeted vulnerable households and people, as a fundamental mechanism to address their low resilience to hazards such as drought and floods.

Essa Khan, FAO disaster risk reduction consultant, recalled that Gambia government, represented by the Ministry of Agriculture, signed a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) with FAO in response to 2011 crop failure and 2012 severe whether condition in The Gambia.

This TCP, he said, enabled FAO to provide emergency assistance to households in the forms of seeds and fertilizer in order to restore their productive capacity. "However, given the phenomenon of successive droughts and floods such emergency assistance is important and relevant but their sustainability in the face of environmental risk factors cannot be guaranteed," he stated. Khan went on to outline the risk factors, which he said include soil erosion, salt intrusion, land degradation, potential sea level rise, and low soil nutrient levels. He therefore noted that the need to change the way they respond to crisis in the wake of aforementioned challenges to flood security should to be given due attention....

A street scene in Banjul, shot by Atamari, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Environment minister says coastal Gambia at risk

Amadou Jallow in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul): The risk of climate change related damage to human and economic development in The Gambia's coastal areas is on the rise, with the compound effects of sea level rise and changes in the river discharge, erosion of coastal embankments and changes to natural sediments dynamics posing a serious threat to the natural resource base and livelihood opportunities of coastal communities including tourism.

This was disclosed by the minister of Forestry and the Environment, Fatou Ndeye Gaye, at the Paradise Suites Hotel on Tuesday, where she presided over the opening of a two-day validation workshop on the UNDP/GEF/ LCDF project preparatory grant, on the theme, 'Enhancing resources of Coastal areas and countries to climate change'. The validation is organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Policy and institutional development for climate risk management in coastal zones, physical investment in coastal protection against climate change risks and strengthening livelihoods of coastal communities at risk from climate change are the three main components of the project, and it seeks to employ a feedback loop between the three components and enable successful community-based adaptation approaches in coastal areas to be analysed and replicated in other vulnerable regions, within and outside The Gambia.

Minister Gaye said The Gambia is one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa in relation to climate change and faces a range of problems associated with flooding from sea level rise, drainage congestion and torrential rains. "Change in climatic patterns are also expected to further constrain productivity of some crops as well as forest regeneration," she added....

A ferry arriving in Banjul, shot by Grashoofd, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Gambia's vice president calls for greater women's participation in disaster risk reduction

Sheriff Janko in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Gambia): The vice president and minister of Women's Affairs has called for greater participation and involvement of stakeholders and all parties in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and other environmental hazards such as the Environmental Climate Change Adaptation.

Her Excellency Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy made the call Friday at her office in State House, as she delivered a message as part of activities marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is observed globally on October 13th. This years' event was commemorated with the theme, 'Women and girls- the invisible force of resilience'.

The day, which is commemorated annually, is designed to raise awareness on the need to reduce the risks that disasters pose, so as to create safer communities, cities and countries. She explained that this years' theme seeks to acknowledge and appreciate the millions of women and girls who make their communities more resilient to disasters and climate risk.

"Against this backdrop, the day will celebrate the contribution that women and girls are making before, during and after disasters and in all decision-making process regarding disaster risk reduction towards resilience and sustainable development. The celebration in The Gambia will take in a form of a march past and drama performance. However, one of the highlights will be the fact that the ability of women and girls to contribute effectively in disaster reduction is hindered by exclusion from participation and decision-making in DRR and management process as well as programmes and indeed poor misconception of understanding gender equality, equity and women's empowerment," she said....

Banjul risks sinking as sea level rises

AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Gambia): Banjul is at risk of going under water as sea levels rise by one meter as a result of climate change and other environmental ramifications, the minister of works, constructions and infrastructures, Francis Leity Mboge warned Thursday.

Minister Mboge said, with a one meter sea level rise not only settlements risk being eroded, but also 60 percent of mangrove forest, 33 percent of swampy areas and 20 percent of rice fields will be lost on a national scale. "As a result, this will lead to a decrease in rice production and impede the objectives of the one of the country's blueprint that targets 70, 000 metric tons of rice on yearly basis," Minister Mboge said during his address at the start of a workshop on enhancing resilience for vulnerable coastal areas and communities to climate change in The Gambia, organised by the United Nations Development Programme in Banjul.

The project is intended to help mitigate the country's vulnerability to climate change by improving coastal defenses and enhancing adaptive capacities of coastal communities given Gambia's situation as one of the most vulnerable countries in Africa to the impacts of environmental adversities....

SPOT satellite image of Banjul, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Gambia: Small country with a big crisis

IRIN: There is mounting concern that The Gambia, Africa’s smallest country, could face yet another shortfall in the 2012/2013 agricultural season in the production of rice, millet, maize and groundnuts, the main crops, crippling its efforts to become food secure.

The planting season has begun, yet there is a huge seed deficit. “It is essential that farmers receive quality drought-tolerant seeds, as well as fertilizer and other production support by the end of May 2012 to start their next production campaign,” said Sonia Nguyen, a spokesperson for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Sahel.

The Gambia, surrounded by Senegal, is part of the Sahel zone, and it too was affected by the late, erratic and unevenly distributed rainfall during the 2011/12 growing season. Crop production is expected to drop by more than half compared to 2010, and by 50 percent compared to the five-year average, said Nguyen.

Patrick Ezeala, spokesperson for Oxfam America in The Gambia, said there had been huge declines in the main food crops: rice (-79 percent), groundnut (-67 percent) and early millet (-53 percent). "Coupled with this production drop, food prices have gone higher than normal, surpassing the high food prices experienced during the 2008 global food crisis. The drop in production combined with rising prices suggests that seed insecurity will increasingly become a challenge for farmers."...

Groundnuts being bagged at the collecting centre of a Farmers' Co-operative Produce Union in Gambia in 1949, from The National Archives UK, under the Open Government Licence v1.0

Assessing vulnerability in Gambia

Meita Touray in the Daily Observer (Banjul): A two day bilateral forum on Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of the Saloum Delta and The Gambia River Estuary was recently held at the Sun Wing Beach Hotel in Kololi.

The two day forum organised by the USAID/Ba- Nafaa project brought together participants from The Gambia and Senegalwith a view to broadening their intellectual horizon on the vulnerability of the ecosystem to climate change. Participants were also exposed to the negative human activities that trigger such vulnerability and as well formulate recommendations for adaptation measures.

The workshop outlined key priority adaptation measures for consideration by the two governments, the diverse group of stakeholders and other partners in development. Delivering his opening remarks, the Minister of Fisheries, Water Resources and the National Assembly Matters, Hon. Abdou Kolley hailed the USAID/Ba- Nafaa project for commissioning the climate change vulnerability assessment.

He noted that the Coastal and Marine areas of The Gambia and Senegal are highly susceptible to the negative impact of climate change. Evidence of which he said shows that the coastal and marine ecosystem are already affected by multiple stressors with climate change becoming a more serious threat compounded by anthropogenic activities and their negative impact on the natural environment...

On the Gambia River, shot by Radosław Botev, Wikimedia Commons. The copyright holder of this file allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other use is permitted.

Gambia wants Africa to prepare against disasters

Joshua Odeyemi in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Trust(Nigeria): The Gambian Vice President, Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy has urged African nations to be adequately prepared against disasters caused by drastic climate change and the increased rate of terrorism in the continent.

A statement released by the Head of Public Relations NEMA, Yushau Shuaib stated that the Vice President's remarks were made after a bilateral agreement between the Gambian National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) and Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the area of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).

She said "the key word in disaster management is preparedness and putting in place mechanisms to ward off and prevent disaster from wreaking havoc on humanity and their means of livelihood."

Dr. Isatou Saidy also described Nigeria has "a big brother in Africa which always supports sister countries towards socio-political development in the region."

The Director General of NEMA, Alhaji Muhammad Sani-Sidi who led the delegation from Nigeria, said "the partnership between NEMA and Gambia in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a beginning of South-South cooperation that include sharing of knowledge and ideas and provision of logistical supports for disaster management in the sub-region."...

Climate change greatest threat to Gambia

Momodou Faal in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul, Gambia): The deputy permanent secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Water Resources and National Assembly Matters has said that climate change is currently the greatest threat that humankind is faced with in the modern age.

Ms Fatima Sosseh-Jallow was speaking Thursday while presiding over the opening of the project inception workshop - Strengthening of The Gambia's climate change early warning systems at the Paradise Suites Hotel Sosseh-Jallow described climate change as a global concern, with both rich and poor countries alike affected by its negative impact. She stated that in spite of the well-meaning efforts to achieve the Vision 2020 blueprint, alleviate poverty and achieve the MDGs, climate change still stand to undo the past achievements and undermine future progress.

Speaking earlier, Pa Ousman Jarju, director of Water Resources and the focal person of The Gambia United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said The Gambia is currently living with the negative impact of climate change events such as irregular rainfall patterns, and living in apprehension of predicted ones as the sea-level rises.He warned that a one-metre sea level rise forecast to occur by 2050 may result in the inundation of over 90 km2 of the coastal zone leading to the loss of the capital City of Banjul...

Gambia already suffers the negative impact of climate change

Africa Science News: Gambian National Environment Agency, NEA said recently that the country is already facing the worst ramifications of the climate change. NEA’s executive director, Momodou B. Sarr said in Banjul that already climate change impact on agriculture is attributed to 40 per cent drop in groundnut yields due to rising temperatures and the disappearance of freshwater swamps, and soil salinization in lowland areas resulting from sea level rise is likely to impact negatively on rice production and the lives of women farmers in these areas.

He said dominance of heat and drought-tolerant species could lead to further loss of agricultural biodiversity, increased food insecurity, rural poverty and hardship, among others.

On fisheries, the NEA boss said sea level rise may initially favour the mobilisation and export of nutrients from wetland sediments, but the same process could equally release pollutants into the aquatic ecosystem.

He added that loss of estuarine mangroves (important life cycle habitat, food and refuge for crustaceans, shellfish, oceanic nekton and marine mammals) could lead to the collapse of some pelagic fish populations, threaten food security for a significant proportion of Gambians and undermine the livelihood and traditional way of life of fisher-folk in the country....

40 million square meters of Gambia’s coastal zone at risk

Saloum Sheriff Janko in Today (Gambia): Forty million square metres of The Gambia’s coastal zone land could be lost if necessary measures are not taken. This alarm was sounded by the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Forestry and the Environment, Mr. Lamin Nyabally. He was speaking on behalf of the minister of Forestry and the Environment, Hon. Jatto Sillah at the launch of the Gambia Environmental Action Plan (GEAP II) and the second edition of the State of the Environment Report of The Gambia.

According to him, climate change and variability have significant social impacts on the livelihoods of most Gambian who depend on tourism, fisheries and agriculture. He said majority of the Gambian population live within 100 kilo meters from the coast, who would be adversely affected if the coastal zone is lost. This could also affect the agriculture and the country target of the PRSP.

…He then revealed his ministry’s commitment to address the challenges of environmental threats that may affect the country. He then described the launching of the two important reports as another demonstration of government’s commitment in placing environmental issues at the center of its development agenda. According to him, the reports aim at ensuring that natural resources are well protected and guided for sustainable use, and will continue to be a good reference material necessary in promoting sustainable development in The Gambia, which also provides good insights into pertinent issues of the country’s socio –economic development….

A climate change center launched in Gambia

Fatou Sowe in AllAfrica.com via the Daily Observer (Banjul, Gambia): The Phoenix Project -Gambia recently launched the Climate Change Information and Resource Centre, Gambia Women's Environmental Network (GWEN) and Gambia Youth Environmental Network (GYEN) at a ceremony held at its premises in Kerr Serign.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Aji Bintou Kinteh, the assistant director of the National Environment Agency (NEA) explained that climate change is seen as a result of the warming of the planet due to high concentration of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

…Kinteh revealed that a number of climate change related projects have also been implemented by the government, adding that the Phoenix Project is part of collaborative projects between the Gambia government and the CBOs private NGOs, For his part, Lamin FK Darboe, the finance director of Phoenix, stated that The Gambia Youth Environmental Network (GYEN) is here to sensitise the youths to become useful and to be aware of the effects of climate change. This, he said will put the youths in a position to educate and teach others. "As we the youths are the leaders of tomorrow and the designers of the future, we have to change our attitudes and be positive in the way we think, in the way we live, to become responsible enough to make positive contributions to the sustainable development of The Gambia and be effective in nation building," Darboe said….

Gambia hit by heavy flooding

Lamin Sm Jawo in AllAfrica.com, via the Daily Observer (Banjul): Over forty compounds in five villages in Upper Saloum district, CRR North were seriously affected by heavy down pour on Monday night August 10th.

The heavy flooding left over three hundred people displaced, most of whom, are women and children. The displaced people are currently accommodated in a mosque at Bantanto Kerr Isap which is the most affected village.

The villages affected include: Bantanto Kerr Isap, Bantanto Kerr Lime, Bantanto Kerr Alhagie Demba, Njau, Batio Nderr and Jahanka. The heavy down pour did not only destroy houses but claimed lives of small ruminants and chickens. The regional disaster management committee, on Tuesday August 11, embarked on an emergency assessment exercise of the area. The team, led by Chief Malick Mbye of Upper Saloum and ward councillor Channeh Ceesay went on a conducted tour of the affected areas.

The regional disaster management focal person Pa Musa Kijera, expressed sympathy to the affected families. He further appealed for urgent assistance for emergency shelter, food and clothing for the victims. For his part, Alhagie Ganyie Touray, Governor of Central River Region, said the disaster occured in the early hours of Monday morning. According to him, the heavy flood destroyed many compounds in over 15 villages in the Upper Saloum District. He described the disaster as a very serious one, adding that it affected many families and left them stranded….