Gambia

The GAMBIA is a very small tropical nation of 11,000 km², forming an east-west strip of land along the Gambia River to its mouth in the Atlantic Ocean. Senegal surrounds the country apart from its 80-km coastline. The vegetation is forest and rainforest but large areas have been deforested for firewood and agriculture. Only 1% of the land is arable. Agriculture occupies 52% of the workforce in the population of 1.3 million (1999) and is 23% of the GDP.

General information

• GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 1,620
• Internal renewable water resources: 3 km³
• Incoming water flow: 5 km³
• Main food consumed: rice, millet and sorghum, oil and fat, sugar and honey, wheat
• Rice consumption, 1999: 89.7 kg milled rice per person per year

Production constraints
There are several major constraints to sustainable rice production in The Gambia:

• Periodic drought in upland areas and drought and flash flood in rainfed lowland
  (or inland swamp) and tidal wetland (or mangrove) areas because of irregular
  weather
• Inadequate and irregular input supplies: seeds, fertilizer, and credit
• Lack of small farm equipment, especially for postharvest operations
• Poor maintenance of developed swamps
• Poor drainage, iron toxicity in undeveloped swamps
• Lack of effective farmers' organizations and cooperatives
• Lack of well-defined rice policies
• Poor road networks and marketing systems
• Weak research and extension support

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