The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved an additional $16.08 million in funding for The Gambia to enhance its ongoing Agriculture and Food Security Project. Launched in 2021, the project aims to improve food security and increase the incomes of vulnerable households in the country.

The funding, granted on March 4, comes from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Project (GAFSP), a multilateral financing platform dedicated to supporting impoverished communities in developing countries. The project’s core objectives remain unchanged, focusing on elevating food and nutritional security while improving the incomes of vulnerable households.

The project’s target area covers the five administrative regions of Central River, Upper River, North Bank, Lower River, and West Coast. To promote the production of climate-resistant local food products, the project will expand cultivation areas for various crops, including plant crops, upland crops (such as groundnuts, maize, millet, cowpea, and findi), and rice.

With the additional funding, the project aims to increase cultivation areas from 100 hectares to 150 hectares for plant crops, from 1,500 hectares to 3,000 hectares for upland crops, and from 3,000 hectares to 4,500 hectares for rice. This expansion is expected to boost productivity, with rice yields projected to increase from 2.0 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare and maize harvests reaching 2.0 tonnes per hectare from 1.8 tonnes.

The project will benefit a significant number of small-scale farmers, with the number expected to increase from 10,000 to 18,000, of which 50 percent are young people and 52 percent are women. Additionally, initiatives focusing on social security, improving nutrition, and promoting gender equality will increase the number of school pupils receiving nutritious meals from 131,900 to 203,900 over five years, with girls constituting 52 percent of the beneficiaries.

The initial grant of $16 million for the GAFSP was approved by the African Development Bank Group Board of Directors on September 21, 2021, supplemented by $1.37 million in counterpart funding from the government of The Gambia.

A progress report highlighting the project’s initial successes shows that 63,936 project beneficiaries, representing 40 percent of the target, have already been reached. Production outcomes have been substantial, including 14,000 tonnes of poultry meat, 964,200 tonnes of vegetables, and 167,450 eggs, generating an estimated income value of $750,000 for smallholder farmers. The project has also provided nutritious daily meals to 39,397 school-going children (56% girls) through its support for the Homegrown school feeding program, leading to an increase in primary school enrollments in the project intervention areas.

The additional funding is expected to further strengthen the project’s impact, improving food security and livelihoods for vulnerable communities in The Gambia.