Action Aid responds to Gambia’s appeal for food aid

Dr Manneh, Action Aid country director for The Gambia

Action Aid International-The Gambia, on Thursday, announced that it will provide 50,000 people with urgently needed food aid and drinking water, as the Gambia government seeks international support following the national crop failure coupled with corresponding soaring of food prices.

The international anti-poverty organization says it will also provide seed and other farming products to help make the next harvest productive as well as help with feeding and watering points for livestock.

Gambia needs $23mn to remedy crop failure, looming food shortage

New Minister of Agriculture, Solomon Owens

The Gambia government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has disclosed that it “urgently needed” twenty three million U.S dollars to provide food, seeds, and fertilizer to the entire farming population as the country declared 2011-2012 farming season a failure resulting from severe crop failures and a corresponding soaring of food prices.

A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, formally announcing the national crop failure, stated that the post-harvest assessment of the 2011 farming season, which was characterised by below-normal and poorly distributed rainfall, indicated a reduction in total crop production of more than 70%.