Gambia National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) on Climate Change 2007.

Gambia National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) on Climate Change 2007 is a multi-sectoral national policy with the goal of addressing urgent and significant climate threats through actions that: • Deliver immediate adaptation benefits • Contribute to building local and national adaptive capacities • Create awareness and build foundations for maximising long-term adaptation benefits.
To achieve the NAPA goals, a set of crosslinked strategies are proposed, including: participatory planning, implementation, and monitoring; mobilisation of funds; mainstreaming and policy linkages; capacity building; sectoral intervention; etc. Sectoral adaptation options are prioritised integrated into project concepts. The project portfolio comprising 10 projects, address the following issues: • Impairment of ecosystem goods and services • Amplification of adverse effects of climate change by human factors • Food security and sustainable livelihoods • Poverty reduction and equity • Technology acquisition, innovation, and diffusion • Inadequate strategies for dealing with moving target (incremental effects of climate change).
One of the priority projects is the 'Improved livestock and rangeland management for food security and environmental sustainability ' whose main objective is to enhance livestock-based livelihoods to counter the threat from climate change. Specific objectives include: • Preserving eco-systems • Reducing poverty • Increasing livestock productivity. Potential long term outcomes are: • Food security and poverty reduction • Improved nutrition of children and mothers • Biodiversity conservation and reduced conflict between crop and animal farmers • Genetic improvements of local livestock species • Land regeneration and reclamation of marginal lands.
Another priority project is the 'Increasing fish production through aquaculture and conservation of post harvest fishery products ' whose main objective is to make a positive contribution to poverty reduction, livelihood security and national food security. Potential long term outcomes include: • Sustainable increase of fish supply, • Environmental awareness and protection, • Improved health condition of rural communities, • Increased private investment in fish production through aquaculture, • Stability of fish prices, • Improved livelihoods security and personal safety at sea.
In Agriculture sector, the priority project is the 'Diversification and Intensification of Agricultural Production, Processing, and Marketing ' whose main objective is to enhance food security, nutrition and socioeconomic livelihoods through agricultural diversification and intensification under increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The specific objectives include: • Increasing and diversifying agricultural production and productivity • Establishing food processing and preservation plants • Addressing the issue of infrastructural deficits • Reducing demand and supply disequilibria of traded products • Making agriculture a profitable economic activity.
In water sector, one of the priority projects is the 'Rehabilitation of Early Warning Systems on Climate-Related Natural Hazards' whose main objective is to enhance the preparedness of decision-makers and private individuals on impending climate hazards and the opportunity to harness favourable weather conditions. The specific objectives are • Improvement of national disaster preparedness • Integration of climate information in socioeconomic sector planning and decision-making.
The proposed projects, being priority interventions of Government to adapt to climate change will be implemented through the existing institutional arrangements for the preparation of the NAPA for The Gambia. These institutional arrangements can be visualized at three levels: central (Policy Focal line Department of State for UNFCCC (Department of State for Forestry and the Environment (DOSFE)), and National Climate Committee); regional (Divisional Development Committee and Climate Change Committee); and community (Ward Development Committees and Village Development Committees).