By Kebba AF Touray
Muhammed Ibrahim, the head of a delegation from the ECOWAS Commission, said the regional commission has provided US$954,616.00 to the Gambia, to support the country’s response to food and flood disasters.
This amount is approximately sixty-four million, eight hundred and seventy-two thousand Dalasi (D64,872,000).
Mr Ibrahim said this on Monday, 12 August 2024, while delivering a statement at a planning meeting for monitoring and evaluation of the 2022 flood response project of ECOWAS and implementing partners, whose purpose is to discuss the ongoing implementation of the 2022 flood response project funded by the ECOWAS Commission.
According to Ibrahim, in the year 2022, the ECOWAS Commission foresaw the need to act by engaging member states to support humanitarian assistance for the post-recovery of those affected by the 2022 flooding and the food crisis in most of these member states.
“Flooding degrades the environment and destroys crops, farm settlements, livestock, and seeds that have been stored to address the issue of food crisis. This reduces harvest and affects the next planting season, by accumulating into food shortages for communities,” he said, adding that in responding to the needs of the affected populations, the ECOWAS Commission through the Disaster Relief Fund supported member states including the Gambia, by providing a grant sum of US$954,616.00 for the flood and food crisis.
He said this fund is dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable ‘among us’, as a show of humanity.
Sanna Dahaba, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), said following the devastation caused by the 2022 floods that impacted several ECOWAS member states, the regional block has taken a significant step by allocating US$603,616 to the NDMA. He said this fund is aimed at facilitating a six-month response plan to support households affected by the 2022 floods, and said the NDMA identified the CRS to implement the project.
“The 2022 flood response project under the CRS aims to assist 2,650 households nationwide and was officially launched on May 30, 2024. Disasters have significantly affected people’s lives and livelihoods, especially in 2022 when over 50,000 people were affected by floods in the Gambia,” Dahaba said. He said recently, the NDMA updated the National Disaster Management Policy and Strategy Document 2024 to 2033, to better align it with the ECOWAS DRR policy and strategy, the Sendal Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 to 2030, and the program of action.
In his view, he said it is crucial to work together in the middle of these increasing challenges and vulnerabilities, to build resilience against hazards, and added the NDMA is committed to collaborating with partners towards this goal.
On his part, the Executive Director of the National Nutrition Agency (NaNA) Malang Fofana, said in recent years, shocks and crises driven by natural calamities, and national, regional and global factors, have exacerbated the living conditions of several households and said addressing the various issues relating to the fragility and vulnerability of these communities is therefore critical. He said the support received from ECOWAS helps address vulnerability and build the resilience of households and communities to these shocks and crises, particularly for victims of the 2022 floods. He said while poverty remains a rural phenomenon in The Gambia with 76% of the population affected in 2020, there is a high share of the poor in densely populated urban settlements and this contributes to international irregular migration due to lack of economic opportunities. He reported that the recent integrated household survey reported an increase in the level of poverty in The Gambia from 48.6% in 2016 to 53.4% in 2020, an indication of increased vulnerability. He said adequate nutrition is critical for optimum productivity, but the 2021 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment revealed that 13.4% of the population was food insecure. He went on to state that the 2019/20 Demographic Health Survey (DHS) reports that 18% of children in The Gambia are stunted, and 5% suffer from wasting, greatly diminishing their chances of surviving to the age of five.
“High levels of food insecurity and child malnutrition reveal the country’s vulnerability, undermining workforce productivity and economic growth while perpetuating poverty. This has dire consequences on the economy as highlighted in the 2020 cost of hunger study, The Gambia lost 5.1% of its GDP in 2018 due to under-nutrition,” Mr. Fofana said. He explained that the funds received from ECOWAS were used to conduct a rapid assessment to verify the most vulnerable among the list of households affected by floods in 2022, sensitize local authorities and communities, provide two rounds of cash transfers to enrolled beneficiary households, and conduct post-distribution monitoring to assess the judicious use of these funds by households.
The country manager of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Dr. Amulai Touray, said climate change is an acute threat to the country’s efforts to end poverty and boost shared prosperity. He said when disasters strike, it is always the poor who are most vulnerable and affected the most.
“Through the ECOWAS post-2022 flood recovery project, the NDMA, CRS, and other partners will reach 2,650 households through non-food items and cash transfers in all the regions of the country,” Dr. Touray said, adding that the project will also provide essential social safety nets to flood victims of 2022.
Ousman Ceesay, DPS at the Office of the Vice President reminded the convergence that in 2022, the Gambia was devastated by floods, but said the government through the NDMA and partners, responded to the situation by providing water pumping machines, food, and non-food items and temporal accommodation to the affected persons. He said the Recovery-Focused National Development Plan (RF-NDP) prioritizes addressing community resilience to shocks and crises.
