One in every nine people is undernourished in the global population, accounting for approximately 795 million people. Indeed, most of these hungry people are living in the developing countries and in Sub-Saharan Africa, almost 23% of the population is undernourished. According to the World Food Program (WFP), More than 40% of the world population is employed in agriculture and most of them are rural farmers in Africa, whereby about 75% of the population in the rural areas are poor and hungry.
African countries are facing lot of weaknesses for their agricultural production for food security, food sovereignty and in combination with global environmental problems. These weaknesses are; „Cultural“ weakness is embedded within the increased external influence of extension workers and scientific findings that have dominated the indigenous knowledge and indigenous farm systems of the subsistence farmers. „Political“ weakness reflects on the bureaucracy that has increased the barriers for peasant farmers to sell their products to western markets due to their certification, high subsidies and a ban on some products. „Spatial“ weakness has favoured industrial producers and processors in the western countries in making more profits and rendering peasant farmers more vulnerable in Africa.
Recent challenges the peasant farmers are facing
- Drought & rainfall fluctuation due to climate change is a threat to food security and food sovereignty in the Gambia and causing environmental degradation. In sub-Saharan Africa, rain-fed agriculture contributed almost 97% to food production dependency.
- The Peasant farmers are losing their cultural and indigenous farm products and ways of farming due to the influence of industrial farm inputs, especially genetically modified crops (GM crops). This has caused a huge damage on the environment and use of inorganic farm inputs like fertilizers.
- The famers are also getting more dependent on mono-cropping instead of the sustainable agricultural agronomical practices of multi-cropping system to support the soil nutrition.
- Less empowerment of women for better economic stability and traditionally, women do not own or have access or control land, yet are more than half of the agricultural labour force. In addition, weak organization of farm-to-market value chains.
Aim of the project
The project is to help the farmers to grow their crops whole year around agriculture and water for their animals. Not only in the rainy season which only last for 3 – 4 months and enhance the farmers with irrigations possibilities, land and farm inputs. This will help the communities at grass-root level to:
- Enhance climate-smart productive among woman gardeners, This includes initiatives to promote best practices, technology adoption, and investment in key value chains for woman and the youths ( Women Empowerment)
- To increased income generation and job creation
- Farming as a motivations for the young ones
- Reduce hunger and poverty
- To support the United Nation sustainability goals
- Helping the farmers to produce the whole-year around, not only in the raining season
- Sustainable small-scale agriculture
The project is here to look for funds in order to build an easy irrigation system for the communities with environmentally friendly boreholes or irrigation systems with solar ( wind energy) pumping to supply water to the communities, farmers and their animals.
1. Land access and Irrigation
The project will help the peasant farmers especial women to have access to land for their agricultural production. It will also provide water for them for the whole year food production through irrigation. The country has a rainy season of 3 – 4 months in a year, whereby rest of the year is dry land mostly without water supply for food production. Even during the rainy season of almost 3-4 month there are huge possibilities of rain fluctuations due to global climate change and environmental problems.
2. Climate change mitigation practices
The project will help the farmers to practice best agricultural practice of cultural conservative farm system to protect the ecological system and to mitigate recent climate changes. The system of farming and crop production method which includes: Intercrops can be divided into mixed intercropping (simultaneously growing two or more crops with no or a limited, distinct arrangement); relay intercropping (planting a second crop before the first crop is mature); and strip intercropping (growing two or more crops simultaneously in strips, allowing crop interaction sand independent cultivation. The objective is subsistence while higher profitability without altering ecological balance. That includes the use of leguminous crops to improve the nitrogen condition of the soil and non-leguminous crops to enhance the high intake of nitrogen from the soil.
3. Farm inputs
The project will help he farmers in the community with land to grow their crops or rare their animals specially the women, since their rights to land ownership and authorities over farmlands are too minimal. The project will help to close these gaps to empower women through farming to have right to voice out their thinking or thought, in decisions making and as a source of income. It will help to intensify organic gardening using compost, organic manures or other organic products, farm seeds, simple farm tools, machines and equipment.
This project will help to increase food production, better earnings for the poor farmers, help women community gardens with water availability and accessibility, increase food security and sustainability in the communities, and increase employment opportunities.
Partnership and Financing Outlook
Partnerships are crucial for success, aligning with the joint efforts of the Green Environment for Africa and development partners. We need fundings and our plans is to mobilize funds from different resources and sources to be able to implement fully our ideas to help the poor.
| Projekt / Kontonummer: | Water Project Africa / IBAN: DE15 8306 5408 0005 4407 00 |
| Organisation: | Green Environment for Africa – Grüne Unwelt für Afrika, Am Dammacker 8 B, 28201 Bremen |
| Ansprechperson: | Ebrima Jammeh |
| Vertretungsberechtigt: | Ebrima Jammeh, Nadine Dietrich & Maike Brandhorst |
| E-Mail: | ebrima.jammeh@green4africa.org |
| Telefonnummer: | 0049 15222 714060 |