Abstract:
In most developing countries, agriculture plays a key role on the livelihood
of generations of poor rural farmers. Climate change is projected to undermine
agricultural production and exert more stress on the livelihood of many farmers,
including in The Gambia. Rice Oryza sativa L is the main dietary food in The Gambia
and River Gambia serves as the country’s major source of freshwater irrigation
for tidal rice farming. River Gambia is seriously affected by saline water intrusion
which in effect threatens the country’s main freshwater source. This phenomenon
is blamed on climate change as a result of sea-level rise coupled with the worrying
trend of increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall. Consequently, rice
growers who solely depend on tidal irrigation from River Gambia have encountered
low rice production over the past years. Saline-water intrusion has significantly
impacted the livelihood of Gambian rice farmers and this has led to farmers not
cultivating their fields any more in some instances. This paper attempts to review
the impacts of saline-water intrusion on the livelihood of Gambian rice-growing
farmers, particularly for those involved in swamp rice cultivation along River
Gambia. It is noticed that with increased climate change, the tributaries of River
Gambia will become more saline. The saline-water intrusion will significantly impact
the quality of water in the tributaries which in consequence will greatly reduce the
productivity of the rice plant which is not saline-tolerant. As a result of saline-water
intrusion in the rice-growing tributaries, food security of the rice-growing farmers
in these ecologies is expected to be threatened. This paper recommends series of
measures necessary to help farmers adapt to the negative impacts of saline-water
intrusion as a result of climate change. These measures include but are not limited
to regular monitoring of the salinity of the river and its tributaries, the construction
and/or reinforcement of new embankments/dikes that prevent intrusion of salinewater in the rice-growing areas, review government policies that relate to frequency
and volume of water that is pumped from the river that could enhance saline-water
intrusion in the river, development and provision of saline-tolerant rice cultivars, and
increase training support for rice farmers on best cultural and land use practices.
