Fuel-wood energy threatens Gambia’s forest cover

Heavy reliance on the forest cover for fuel-wood (firewood and charcoal) continues to destroy The Gambia’s forest cover.

A report by the National Planning Commission says the over-reliance of the major urban centres on fuel-wood is destroying the country’s forest cover, causing deforestation and environmental degradation.

Consequences of deforestation

Continuous cutting down of trees for fuel-wood is contributing to desertification and low food production in the country and this could lead to increased hunger and poverty.

The report further states that valuable trees are fading away in The Gambia which can be used for medical purposes.

Rapid loss of forest

According to UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the forest zone of The Gambia is 48 per cent of the country’s land area.  But from 1990 to 2010, the country lost an average of 1,900 hectares per year which is 3% of the forest cover due to fuel wood consumption.

Briquettes as an alternative

Lenja Guenther, the project coordinator at Green Tech, an environmental solutions company, said the use of renewable energy like briquettes can be a suitable solution to the threats fuel-wood consumption is posing on The Gambia’s forest cover.

Groundnut shells can be used as briquettes to substitute firewood and charcoal, she said.

About 1.4 billion people still living in abject poverty globally

About 1.4 billion people still live in abject poverty despite the numerous national and global efforts during the past years on the first target of the Millennium Development Goals, which aims at reducing extreme poverty by one-half by the year 2015, country representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in The Gambia said

According to Dr Babagana Ahmadu as at 2011, the poorest 40 per cent of the world's population accounted for five per cent of total global income while the richest 20 per cent accounted for three-quarters of the world's income.

The FAO country rep was speaking on Thursday at the end of a three-day workshop marking the official launching of the International Fund for Agricultural Development-funded project - National Agricultural Land and Water Management Development.

Furthermore, he said, rural areas account for three in every four people living on less than US$1 a day and similar share of the world population suffering from malnutrition.  

He emphasised the need for efforts to be accelerated in the poverty reduction strides, pointing out that poverty remains a predominantly rural problem, as the majority of the world's poor are located in rural areas.

It is estimated that 76 per cent of the developing world's poor live in rural areas.

According to Dr Ahmadu, disparities between rural and urban areas are on the rise, particularly in many developing and transitional countries.

Globally, rural people and rural places tend to be disadvantaged relative to their urban counterparts, whilst poverty rates increase as rural areas become more remote.

People living in the rural areas tend to have less access to social services, exacerbating the effects of rural poverty.

Gambia’s aid implementation to be monitored by UN

The United Nations System in The Gambia, which consists of UN agencies in the country, will now be periodically assessing, and sharing with other stakeholders, the real progress of The Gambia in implementing programmes and projects under the government as a way of strengthening the country’s aid effectiveness and accountability.

This was disclosed by Dr Babagana Ahmadu, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Representative in The Gambia, at the Joint Annual Review of the United Nation’s Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) held on Thursday at the Laico Atlantic Hotel in Banjul. 

The UNDAF is the overall framework that governs the coordination and implementation of the United Nations System interventions in The Gambia.

Dr Ahmadu stressed that the United Nations System will work together to be able to achieve aid effectiveness to improve development performance in the country.

In this respect, he said, it is very important to bring down the transaction costs for both the UN and the government and to reduce duplication and overlaps, as well as to increase the effectiveness of aid coordination and development assistance to The Gambia.

However, the FAO Country Representative noted that the UN System in The Gambia remains committed to ensuring that The Gambia government receives the support they require to maintain the country as a place of peace, security, harmony and prosperity for all.