By: Momodou Justice Darboe
Despite their exposure to the vagaries of the weather and their resultant devastations, a comprehensive climate change insurance policy remains elusive for thousands of Gambian farmers.
Despite its insignificant contribution to global warming, The Gambia has found itself in the frontline of climate-induced disasters.
More than 100, 000 Gambians have been affected by flash floods and windstorms this year, according to official data.
Farmers bear the brunt of these extreme climate events in the form of crop loss and livestock deaths.
Climate-triggered water shortage in several parts of the country is also affecting the capacity of farmers to produce and feed their families and the nation.
These climactic carnages notwithstanding, thousands of Gambian farmers remain uncovered by a comprehensive climate change insurance policy.
A senior official of the World Food Programme (WFP) earlier this week told this reporter on the sidelines of a two-day workshop to review and validate the National Hydro-climatic Risk Management Report (White Paper) that WFP and partners are helping to reduce the vulnerabilities of farmers through cash support.
“We give cash to vulnerable farmers to cushion the effects of climate change,” the official said.
However, this support is a drop in the ocean considering the magnitude of extreme weather events in the country in the past few years.
Meanwhile, according to the Executive Director of the NDMA, Mr. Sanna Dahaba, his agency in collaboration with like-minded institutions, is trying to come up with an innovative strategy to address budgetary constraints when it comes to disaster financing.
“Disaster events cannot be predicted. They can happen at any time and sometimes disasters strike when we are in the middle of our budget implementation. To come up with a strategy that will address that need is why we are coming up with innovative financing sources in both public and private sectors so that when disasters strike, we will be in a position to finance and address them,” Mr. Dahaba explained to reporters on the sidelines of a disaster financing workshop on Wednesday. He added: “Currently, The Gambia is part of the Africa Risk Capacity; a specialized agency of the AU. In addition to that we are also, through WFP, implementing the replica program to strengthen and support that process. So, disaster risk financing will provide us with an avenue in terms of innovative financing. Whenever disasters strike, we will be in a position to address them. We are doing the insurance scheme. All this is to build resilience and reduce vulnerability.”