The Gambia

The Gambia, known as „The smiling Coast of Africa“ has an area of 11,000 square kilometres,  making it the smallest country on the African mainland. Most of the Gambia has evolved around the Gambia River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the west of the country. Apart from English being the official language Gambians would use the indigenous languages Mandinka, Fulfulde and Wolof in their everyday life. With Adama Barrow as elected president since 2017 Gambia is also one of the youngest African democracies. The Gambia ranked 174 out of 188 Human Development Index in 2017 and with that it is one of the least developed countries in the world. Indicators for this would be an insufficient infrastructure, a small level of education and a very weak economic power. Therefore, for most of the population there is no alternative to working in agriculture. Unfortunately farming is constantly becoming tougher through the effects of climate change, which in the Gambia especially shows in a prolonged dry season.

Saba – our projects location

The village Saba with 2000 inhabitants is located in the Lower Baddibu District in the Northbank Region. For it being so close to the desert region in Senegal to the north the effects described above are especially dramatic.

To counteract the inhabitants would often make use of the abundant groundwater supplies of the Gambia. A couple years ago the villagers in Saba already came together, to collectively improve their living conditions. Out of that the NGO Phanmaggi was formed. After smaller projects in the beginning, e.g. the communal purchase of a tractor and the connection of each home to the local energy grid, they now want to realize a project with our help in order to better the tough working conditions in agriculture.

The Project

The goal of the project is to create a water supply for two communal gardens in the village of Saba. The supply is going to be ensured by a borehole with a solar pump. The energy needed will be provided by  a photovoltaic system. Furthermore a number of distribution basins are planned in both gardens, so that people can water their plants with little effort needed. Another part of the project is the transition from chemical to organic fertilizer and its production by the villagers themselves. For doing so two fertilizer pools will have to be built.

Additionally we are searching for and developing concepts around storing and cooling as well as  processing the harvest, since the Gambias tropical climate makes it hard to preserve things for long.

To ensure our projects longterm success, we are developing a concept for operation and maintenance together with our partners and the local people. That means that after finishing our work the continuation of the project, the maintenance of the equipment in place and the operation of the facilities is secured solely through the residents of Saba.