Farmers’ Knowledge and Perceptions of the Effects of Climate Variability and Pollution on Crop Production and Their Varying Adaptation Strategies in The Gambia

Crop and livestock production is critical to food security in The Gambia. Over the years, the country has experienced a reduced yield due to perceived climate change events with limited studies on how climate change and pollution affect crop production. This study assesses farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of the effects of climate variability and pollution on crop production and their varying adaptation strategies in The Gambia. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this study. The sample size for quantitative data collection was calculated as 432 while the qualitative data involves both the focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The focus group discussions comprised two districts in each of the six agricultural regions and two farming communities engaged in crop production were chosen from each district. Furthermore, eight key informant interviews from relevant institutions were conducted. The study shows that The Gambia is highly vulnerable to extreme climatic events. Although most farmers opined that agricultural land contamination emanates from farm runoff and indiscriminate waste dumping, they had little knowledge of heavy metal pollution and bioremediation. The results showed that farmers experienced constraints such as inadequate access to credit, water, and irrigation facilities, insufficient access to efficient inputs, salt intrusion, etc. which threatened food security. The study concludes that crop farmers acknowledged the existence and impacts of climate change, and therefore recommend the availability and affordability of climate change resilient crops and promote variability awareness campaigns to address climate change impacts in The Gambia.

The Impacts of Flood and Local Communities’ Coping Strategies along the River Gambia

Flood disasters as Climate change hazards are common in developing countries, particularly in communities along the river Gambia. Local communities, for instance, had their local coping strategies that enabled them to stay in their communities even amid these ordeals, and climate change disaster threats. This work strives to understand flood impacts and the local peoples’ adaptation or coping strategies along the River Gambia basin. A community-based cross-sectional research study of 422 research participants of which 294 are males (69.7%) and females 128 (30.3%), and a focus group discussion of 10 groups which comprised 5 female groups and 5 male groups respectively found that 98.6% of the households experienced floods in their community, and 70.6% experienced flood in their houses, 2.1% have impending flood information and 88.4% do not know evacuation centres. The majority of the households had some local coping strategies, but they acknowledged their insufficient effectiveness. The result also shows that the impact of floods on farmlands, roads, buildings, and livestock was greatly felt. Coping strategies such as sandbags, raised elevations, contour bonds, dikes, and buildings on highlands were all found to be common mechanisms the local people used. The study opines that floods affect communities, but the effects vary depending on individual assets.

Wet and Dry Season Effects on Select Soil Nutrient Contents of Upland Farms in North Bank Region of the Gambia

The study was conducted in three villages of North Bank Region of the Gambia in 2013 and 2014. We examined wet and dry season effects on select soil nutrient contents of upland farms in North Bank Region of the Gambia. The objective was to evaluate changes in soil nutrient contents in both wet and dry seasons. Soil samples were collected from three RCBD upland fields with three replications at a depth of 0 - 15 cm and analyzed for pH, Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), and soil moisture content. The gravimetric method of moisture estimation was used. The results showed that soil moisture content, soil TN, and soil pH are significantly different (P < 0.05) during the two seasons. There was no significant difference in SOC between the two seasons in the study area. The study concluded that soil nutrients were more readily available during the wet season than during the dry season probably because there is more soil moisture available in the wet season that facilitates soil nutrient release. The study concludes that soil moisture has to be available in order for some select soil nutrients to be released for plant uptake.