The Gambia June 2016 Livelihood zone descriptions LIVELIHOOD ZONE MAP FOR THE GAMBIA The present document has been produced with the collaboration of the European Union. The contents of the document are the responsibility of its author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 3 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ 4 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 5 ZONE GA01: Western fruits and vegetables zone ........................................................................ 12 ZONE GA02: North western groundnuts and early millet zone ..................................................... 15 ZONE GA03: Central early millet, groundnut and livestock zone .................................................. 18 ZONE GA04: Eastern late millet, maize, groundnut and livestock zone ......................................... 21 ZONE GA05: Central rice belt zone .............................................................................................. 24 ZONE GA06: Ocean fishing, fish trade and tourism zone .............................................................. 27 ZONE GA07: Western rain-fed rice and river fishing zone ............................................................ 31 ZONE GA08: South western forest products and late millet zone ................................................. 34 ANNEX 1 – LIST OF PARTICIPANTS............................................................................................... 37 ANNEX 2 – LIST OF DISTRICTS BY LIVELIHOOD ZONE AND ESTIMATED POPULATION .................... 39 The Gambia livelihood zone profiling 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This exercise was conducted under the aegis of the Regional Centre for Training and Applications in Agro-meteorology and Operational Hydrology (AGRHYMET), a specialized institution of the CILSS (the Permanent Inter-State Committee for the Fight against Drought in the Sahel), and the Ministry of Agriculture of The Gambia. The exercise is part of the ECOWAS programme to strengthen information systems in the sub-region as part of the operationalization of the Regional Food Security Reserve with financial support from the European Union. Mr. Bakary KS Sanyang, head of the Planning Service Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and Chair of the ECOAGRIS Technical Committee (ETC), is to be thanked for his excellent cooperation, especially in the organization of the workshop and his identification and involvement of an appropriate number of high grade participants from the five administrative regions as well as from Greater Banjul Area, and for manifold logistical arrangements. A special thank you goes to the participants themselves, for taking a very active and enthusiastic role in the workshop held during the month of Ramadan and for engaging in meaningful discussions, providing quality information for a coherent outcome. The zoning exercise was facilitated by Miss Nora Lecumberri of The Food Economy Group (FEG Consulting), consultant specialising in HEA, with the support of Mr. Youssouf Kane, HEA expert from the AGRHYMET Regional Centre (CRA). The Gambia livelihood zone profiling 3 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AGRHYMET Centre Régional de Formation et d’Applications en Agrométéorologie et Hydrologie Opérationnelles (Regional Centre for Training and Applications in Agro- meteorology and Operational Hydrology) CEDEAO Communauté Economique Des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (ECOWAS - Economic Community Of West African States) CILSS Comité permanent Inter-Etats de Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel (Permanent Inter-State Committee for the Fight against Drought in the Sahel) ECOAGRIS ECOWAS Agricultural Regional Information System (Système Régional Intégré d’Information Agricole de la CEDEAO) EDF European Development Fund ETC ECOAGRIS Technical Committee FEG The Food Economy Group GGC Gambia Groundnut Corporation ha Hectare HEA Household Economy Analysis mm Millimetre The Gambia livelihood zone profiling 4 INTRODUCTION Since 2014, the Regional Centre for Training and Applications in Agro-meteorology and Operational Hydrology (AGRHYMET), a specialized agency of the Permanent Interstate Committee for the Fight against Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) implements the extension phase (2014-2019) of the ECOWAS Integrated Regional Agricultural Information System named "ECOAGRIS". This program, which is an initiative of ECOWAS and its partner institutions, is financed by the European Union within the framework of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) regional program for the operationalization of the Regional Food Security Reserve. The ECOAGRIS project's overall objective is to "strengthen information systems at local, national and regional level to meet the information requirements for monitoring food and nutrition and for vulnerability analyses in order to support decision making and to anticipate food crises and better target intervention areas”. Considering the above, the project has two specific objectives that are: . To strengthen national and regional information systems on food and nutrition security; . To improve the quality of information to help decision making for a better response to food and nutrition crises in CILSS and ECOWAS member countries. The ECOAGRIS component has a strategic focus on the implementation and strengthening of national information systems on food and nutrition security of the countries covered by the component, through the implementation of the Household Economy Analysis (HEA) tool. In doing so, ECOAGRIS wishes to continue to strengthen the progress made by the regional HEA project led by Save the Children International since 2008. It is within this context that a national workshop for the mapping of livelihood zones in The Gambia was held from the 13th to the 17th June 2016 in Banjul, under the aegis of the Planning Services Unit, Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture. The activity aimed to improve the understanding of rural livelihoods and to identify vulnerabilities to shocks according to geographical locations, thereby constituting a sampling frame for future analyses based on livelihoods. The present report presents the findings of the zoning workshop, including both the national zoning map accompanied by detailed descriptions of each zone and an account of the mapping process followed during the workshop. THE METHODOLOGY The Household Economy Approach defines a “livelihood zone” as a geographical area where households rely on the same means - production systems and access to markets - to meet their life and livelihood needs, particularly their food and cash income. The mapping of livelihood zones is the first step of the HEA analytical framework. This step includes a division of homogeneous "access areas" (access to food and income-generating activities) and the description of said zones. The descriptions offer preliminary information on the geographical characteristics of each zone and the main sources of food and income, with some distinction between poorer and wealthier households. Seasonal calendars present the timing of production and market activities by zone, and separate food and income access calendars focus on the livelihoods of the poorer households. A list of the most common The Gambia livelihood zone profiling 5 food risks affecting each zone and the common coping strategies used by local households are also included in the descriptions. In the following steps of the analytical framework HEA, these “access areas” form the sampling frame for subsequent baseline field studies that include (a) a socio-economic breakdown of the population within the zone and (b) a quantification of the typical sources of food and income, as well as the main expenses for each wealth group. These baselines then constitute reference databases which food security seasonal assessments (at national and regional levels) can refer to. Analysts can have access to the tools needed to make predicative analyses of food security for the year to come (the HEA "Outcome Analysis" tool)1. Livelihood zoning offers a particular view of economic geography associated with Household Economy Analysis (HEA), a widely used methodology for the assessment of food security with reference to whole livelihoods in their various geographical contexts. The boundaries of different rural economies do not generally coincide with administrative boundaries, but government and agency activities generally do. Therefore the livelihood zones map is always seen with administrative units superimposed, so that populations can be identified both by livelihood zone and by their administrative location. The livelihood maps and descriptions thus form part of the knowledge base for food security assessment on a national level. In themselves they do not provide a complete system for food security monitoring or analysis, but they establish a geographical, livelihoods framework for assessing periodic shocks, so that monitoring data on production, prices and other indicators can be considered in a logical and informed manner to allow some estimates of effects and to plan responses. When associated with full HEA baseline information and scenario modelling they are part of a more complete system of analysis. But in the meantime,