Livelihood Improvement through Climate Resilient

Project Background

Climate change and climate variation is expected to place a major burden on national development as the productive base of the economy depends on climate-sensitive activities such as crop production, livestock rearing, fisheries, energy, and water resources. These climate sensitive sectors have already started to experience some of the adverse effects of climate change and variability characterized by decreasing rainfall, higher temperatures, sea level rise, increased frequency of droughts and flooding. A one metre rise in sea level is expected to inundate about 8.7% of the Gambia’s total land area, including over 61% of current mangrove area and over one-third of swampland. Also, at risk of inundation is the whole of Barra and over 50% of Banjul including Banjul Port, the country’s only deep-water seaport. Groundwater in western Gambia is at risk of increased salinization, while coastal aquifers may become reduced, which would affect fresh water supplies and peri-urban agriculture. The impact of sea level rise and coastal erosion on tourism and the artisanal fisheries sector is unquantified, but likely significant. The artisanal (or small scale) sub- sector is considered to have a greater contribution to livelihoods and the economy, compared to the industrial and aquaculture sub-sectors. The fisheries sector contributes about 12% to GDP and employs about 36,000 people. It is the major supplier of animal protein for the population with per capita fish consumption of about 23kg and it plays a pivotal role in poverty reduction and food security.

Changes in seasonal rainfall patterns combined with sea level rise and global warming could also change the mangrove forest conditions, in turn affecting the fishery sector. Mangroves are very important ecosystems for the artisanal coastal fisheries sector, serving as spawning grounds and nurseries for juvenile fish species. It is estimated that 51% of the fish caught in the artisanal fisheries benefit from the food chain related to mangroves, whereas practically the entire shrimp production depends on the mangrove habitat. A drop in mean annual run-off could also result in a complete change in the hydrological and salinity balance of the River Gambia’s estuary, in turn affecting fish species abundance, composition and distribution. Higher salinity at the mouth of the estuary, caused by reduced rainfall and freshwater sources and enhanced by sea level rise, may impede the entry of larvae and juveniles of many marine species into the estuary to complete their early lifecycle processes. Temperature increases will also destroy marine and riverine ecosystems, increase toxicity in fish stocks, and have a deleterious impact on human health.

Project Objective

The overall Developmental Objective of this project is to conserve and protect fisheries resources and their habitat through sustainable mitigation and adaptation measures thereby enhancing climate resilience of fishing communities. It will contribute to The Gambia’s climate change stabilization initiatives and by extension to the realization of the country’s Climate Change Policy objectives. The project also builds off the First and Second National Communications and the National Adaptation Programme of Action by promoting adaptation measures within the fishery sector. The project will also contribute to promoting economic development and significantly improving the livelihoods of beneficiaries along the value chain; youth and women in particular.

For effective and efficient attainment of its Developmental Objective, the project is anchored on four interlinked components.

• Component 1: Climate Proofing Fishery Infrastructure along coastal communities.
• Component 2: Restoration of fisheries habitat and promotion of climate resilient production techniques.
• Component 3: Enhancing capacity of fisher folk on climate change risk management.
• Component 4: Project coordination and implementation.

Project Strategies

The project will be implemented within fourteen (14) communities along the Coast of The Gambia and it is estimated that 30,000 people will benefit, who are directly and indirectly dependent on artisanal fisheries and their related activities of fishing, fish processing and post-harvest operations. The project will also target women and youth as vulnerable populations. Fishing is generally carried out by men, and women dominate activities in the post capture/postharvest sector where they form the link between fish capture and consumption. They are involved in unloading and delivery of fish from landed fishing canoes, marketing of the catch, wholesale or retail, fish processing and in fishery products marketing and distribution. Although occasionally women own fishing units and finance fishing inputs and trips of men fishers, women generally do not have ownership of major properties and are not economically empowered to improve their productivity and gains.

Barriers to be Addressed

Barriers include the limited knowledge among national and local administrations on climate change risks, adaptation needs and options and the majority of fisher folk (90%) have low literacy levels. There is limited or unreliable data collection and processing mechanisms to monitor climate change on fishery ecosystems especially in the estuary, due to inadequate capacity skills and human resources to conduct ecological research. District and Village Development Committees will act as key intermediaries among the national, regional and local levels. By scaling up achievements of the NAPA, this project support authorities to routinely include climate risks and climate issues into planning processes. This project will also increase analytical skills and capabilities of stakeholders to analyse/model weather, communicate, and disseminate information to all actors.

Market Overview

The Gambian fisheries sector has significant potentials to increase its contribution to national socio-economic development. It is a dynamic sector with a diversity of value chain actors operating a variety of small and microenterprise business activities that support their livelihoods and income sources. The country also offers great potential for increased aquaculture development. Artisanal fish catch, apart from being processed (dried and/or smoked) is transported fresh to the city, town and village level markets within the coastal and rural areas. Some of the processed fishery products (smoked or dried) are marketed within the country while others are exported to neighbouring West African countries where demand for fish is very high. The artisanal fish catch of high value fish species (shrimps, sole fish, sea breams, lobsters and cephalopods) are purchased by industrial fish processing companies for factory processing and export abroad, mainly to European Union countries. According to records of licensed vessels, over 95% of industrial fishing vessels in the marine waters of the Gambia are foreign vessels operating under contractual arrangements with Gambian companies. The fact that The Gambia does not have a port dedicated to industrial fishing operations, is used to justify the landing and processing of fish caught in Gambian waters outside The Gambia, leading to loss of foreign exchange, employment and the availability of fish for local consumption.

Project Rationale

The Theory of Change defines the linkages between how project inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes will bring about impact and the intended paradigm shift. Figure 1 illustrates the pathway of change this project is meant to follow. The inputs to the project will allow for a set of activities to take place, which in turn will produce the outputs and outcomes, defined as the four components to this project. These four components, brought together, will increase resilience in a variety of areas, culminating in the increased resilience of fishing communities against climate change consequences, the overall objective of this project. For example, the combination of human, financial, and technical inputs will allow for the instalment of FTT kilns, thereby giving communities access to low emissions processing methods, and allowing for climate resilient fishery production. This then will increase health, well-being, income generation, food security and resilience of communities, contributing to the overall paradigm shift. Only when all of these components are brought together and properly interlinked can the environmental, economic, and social environment be created and aligned to allow for a successful paradigm shift.

All stakeholders, especially the main target (youth and women) and relevant staff of the Ministry of environment, climate change, and natural resources will participate, directly or through their representatives, in the planning and delivery of all activities. It will be made sure that fishermen (beneficiaries) feel they are the owners and managers of supported activities, rather than passive recipients. Memorandum of understandings (MoUs) clearly defining each party’s inputs will be drafted to avoid mishandling and carefree attitude of a deep-rooted culture of dependency.

Project Implementation

The leadership guidance for the implementation of this project will be entrusted to a Project Steering Committee (PSC) chaired by the Department of Fisheries (DoF). This will comprise senior officers such as the National Project Coordinator, FAO Representative, and other relevant government agencies. The PSC will be supplemented with the establishment of a Project Coordination Unit, including a Project Coordinator, Fisheries specialist, M&E Officer, and Procurement Officer etc. The PSC will review the project reports, hold periodic meetings, and make decisions to ensure the project stays on trach and responds effectively to changing circumstances. The execution of the project will be guided by the procedures and guidelines under the custody of the project coordination unit. The Department of Fisheries (DoF), under the Ministry of Fisheries Water Resources and National Assembly Matters as the line Ministry for the development of fisheries and aquaculture in The Gambia, will coordinate and execute the project. The FAO Representative in The Gambia in collaboration with DoF will assign a Project Coordinator (PC) who will be responsible for the overall coordination and liaise with FAO Representative in The Gambia or his/her designated officer for all project matters. The PC and relevant support staff will form the Project Management Unit. All communications will be channelled through the Project Coordinator who will also be reporting to the Project Steering Committee and the implementing agency. The FAO Representative in The Gambia will act a supervisory role in implementation of activities.

Risks and Mitigation

The following risks are anticipated during the implementation of the project. The potential impact, probability of encountering the risk and possible mitigation methods are provided for each anticipated risk.

Climate change adaptive development of fisheries plays an important role in improving food supply and increasing the earning of both rural and urban populations. however, sustainable and climate change adaptive fisheries can guarantee only when fisherpersons are introduced to climate adoptive social-economic livelihood and ecosystem adoption options as alternative source of income so that fish population can be allowed to increase. One way of effecting this climate change adaptive and alternative development is to encourage and introduce fisherpersons to climate adaptive exploitation of biodiversity and ecosystem as alternative source of services and livelihood.