Old Jeshwang - Recently, twenty-five participants from across The Gambia’s oyster sector, harvesters, processors and hospitality professionals, gathered for an intensive, hands-on course in food safety and quality assurance, organized under FISH4ACP, a global fisheries and aquaculture value chain programme led by the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with funding from the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)...

The International Day of Forests, 21 March 2026  provides an opportunity to acknowledge the essential contributions forests make to sustaining life on Earth. The 2026 theme,“Forests and Food,” underscores the significance of forests not only as ecological resources but also as integral components of global food systems, supporting nutrition, livelihoods, biodiversity, and climate resilience. From providing fruits and nuts to facilitating pollination, forests play a foundational role in supporting human well-being and environmental stability...

The Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement in The Gambia (PROREFISH Gambia) project personnel recently conducted field missions to monitor the mangrove restoration sites in rural areas of the Gambia (4th to 10th March 2026)...

Banjul, 10 March 2026 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Government of The Gambia, and the People’s Republic of China today officially launched a USD 1.5 million project aimed at transforming rice and millet food systems in The Gambia. The project, funded through the FAO-China South-South Cooperation Trust Fund, was launched at a high-level ceremony attended by the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security,  Ambassador of the People’s Republic of  China to The Gambia, Deputy Director-General of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Centre (FECC), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of the People’s Republic of China, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Director of FAO’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division, development partners, and senior government officials...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently welcomed the first cohort of agricultural experts from the People’s Republic of China. The deployment is part of China’s support to The Gambia’s food security efforts under the South-South Triangular Cooperation Programme. This programme will support and provide technical assistance and capacity building with emphasis on rice and millet production, marketing, and value chain strengthening...

In the river communities of Foni, oyster harvesting represents not only a means of livelihood but also a tradition and a pathway to economic independence for hundreds of women. However, for many years, this occupation involved significant risk: most oyster harvesters routinely worked in deep waters and mangrove channels without possessing swimming skills...

Kenya’s experience in tissue culture and rapid plant multiplication stands as a powerful example of how innovation, partnerships and sustained investment can transform agrifood systems. During a recent FAO-facilitated study tour, Gambian scientists witnessed first-hand how Kenya has scaled these technologies to support farmers, agribusinesses and national food security.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)  facilitated a regional technical study tour to Kenya and Cabo Verde aimed at accelerating agrifood systems transformation in The Gambia through the adoption of tissue culture, rapid multiplication technologies, and climate-resilient production systems...

Strengthening national capacity remains at the core of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) support to The Gambia’s agrifood systems. A recent technical study tour to Kenya and Cabo Verde has reinforced this commitment by equipping Gambian scientists and technicians with practical skills and institutional knowledge in tissue culture, greenhouse management and rapid multiplication technologies...

Thursday, 18 December 2025 - For decades, women throughout The Gambia have significantly contributed to household sustenance through agricultural activities but have remained unrecognized in land ownership and decision-making processes....

The Gambia held its inaugural World Food Forum (WFF) Youth Chapter on 10 to 11 December 2025, gathering nearly 200 young agri-entrepreneurs at the Sir Dawda Jawara International Conference Centre. The event supported commitments from the 2025 World Food Forum in Rome, encouraging expansion of youth-led food security initiatives as part of FAO’s 80th Anniversary...

When Alieu Bah of Fonkoi Kunda in the Lower River Region walked us through his new garden, you could feel ease and gratitude in his voice before he even says a word. The former military officer always smiles deeply, anytime he talks about his four-hectare stretch now fenced with chain links....

Saturday, 25 October 2025 - The Gambia joined the world on to commemorate World Food Day 2025 under the theme “Hand in Hand for Better Food and a Better Future,” a history made even more significant as it coincided with the 80th Anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The celebration echoed decades of global and national commitment to ending hunger, improving nutrition, and transforming lives.

Saturday, 25 October 2025 - The energy of World Food Day 2025 celebrations culminated with tributes to the backbone of The Gambia’s agriculture, its rural women under the theme “Rural Women Strengthening Nature for Our Collective Future: Building Climate Resilience, Conserving Biodiversity, and Caring for Land towards Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls.” In marking the International Day of Rural Women, World Food Day, and FAO’s 80th Anniversary, the spotlight turned to those whose daily labour sustains families, communities, and the nation’s food systems...

For years, Gambian communities along the country’s coastline and riverbanks have braved tides, trudged through mudflats, and battled climate change in their determined bid to revive dwindling mangrove forests. Now, thanks to a targeted intervention by the PROREFISH project, these communities are no longer fighting with bare hands...

In Sinchu Gundo and satellite communities, in the Central River Region South, a UN Peacebuilding Project has transformed lives by resolving long-standing tensions between farmers and herders through the construction of cattle tracks and drinking points...

Bintang, Foni, Life in this community moves with the river. This small riverside community sits where a winding tributary from the River Gambia flows past thick mangroves, connecting to Sibanor South, Bwiam, and Kiang. Bintang is a community were fishing a source of survival for the inhabitants...

There was a time, not too long ago, when the name Jareng in the Central River South meant a lot for The Gambian economy, due to the tons of rice it used to produce. The rice paddies in this community were among The Gambia’s pride fields, so fertile that people from across the country came to sow, harvest, and sustain families. The soil was rich, the harvests abundant. Young men and women stayed for months to cultivate and harvest rice, generating incomes that sustained entire communities.

When the FAO-Thiaroye Fish Processing Technique (FTT) ovens were first installed in Tanji, Brufut, Gunjur, and Kartong, they promised to change the way fish was smoked in The Gambia. The ovens were built to protect women from hazardous smoke and produce cleaner, safer fish. These facilities were supposed to open doors to better markets, healthier working conditions, improved livelihoods, and produce better-quality fish that could meet both domestic food safety standards and regional export requirements...

Government officials, UN representatives, civil society actors, and farmers gathered this week at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center to address what many say is one of the country’s most urgent yet overlooked human rights concerns- the right to food...