Agro–Ecology and Resilience: Paving the way to end hunger and poverty in rural communities

By

Alpha Jallow

A four day exchange workshop by ActionAid Senegal and Gambia on the results of the Agro-Ecology and Resilience project implemented in both countries opened in Kaolack, central Senegal on Tuesday.

The workshop brought together fifty three people from the beneficiary communities, technical services and staff of ActionAid Senegal and Gambia. Participants shared experiences of project activities to identify options for the actioning of the second phase of the important Agro-Ecology and Resilience project.

In their opening remarks the Directors of ActionAid of both countries hailed the importance of such a project in the different communities they are serving.

The project Agro-Ecology and Resilience, which affects approximately three thousand people, had set the goal of improving the well-being of vulnerable communities in Gambia and Senegal that have suffered the negative effects of droughts and flooding in recent years.

The other important aspect of the project is for the development of leadership and improving of knowledge for one hundred and eighty men and women in Gambia and Senegal, enabling them to participate in an analysis on vulnerability on a much larger scale.

It will also strengthen the capacity of six hundred men, women and their families in Gambia and another thousand in Senegal.

The project aims to further strengthen organisations in the preparation for emergencies, developing plans to mitigate risks and develop resilience of such systems in participating communities.

Another part of the project is to assist others through the sharing of knowledge, based on experiences and lessons learned, promoting this through training, meetings, exchange visits and external events.

It was confirmed however that climate change had been identified as the cause of 90 percent of the disasters, these occurring in the poorest nations such as Gambia and Senegal, affecting not only human development but the livestock and food production of these countries.

Alpha Jallow

Alpha is a freelance journalist from Dakar, Senegal, having worked for the BBC African Radio service, West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) and Radio France Internationale (RFI).