Concern Universal Gambia - Senegal annual report 2013 14

CountrySummary:

21 years’ supporting sustainable development in The Gambia and Senegal

Senegambia

Senegambia Annual report 2013-14 Concern'Universal' Concern Universal Senegambia is one of ten Concern Universal country programmes. Concern Universal is an international development organization tackling poverty from the grassroots. We create opportunities for people around the world to improve their lives and shape their own futures. By building skills and connecting people at all levels in society, we help communities deliver practical solutions with long term impact.

Working with partner organizations, we support community projects that improve livelihoods, reduce vulnerability and promote greater equality. To achieve this, we also influence policy, pioneer business partnerships and engage public support for our approach.

Our Vision: A world where justice, dignity and respect prevail for all Our Mission: To work in partnership to challenge poverty and inequality. We support practical actions that enable people to improve their lives and shape their own futures.

Concern Universal Senegambia is a leading international development and humanitarian aid organization, specialising in Disaster Risk Reduction and Food Security and natural resource management. We work closely with local communities and Gambian organisations to understand and respond to priority needs. focus on building the capacity of Gambian organisations, and business-led solutions that mobilise resources and encourage entrepreneurialism.

Funding'Partners' Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) British Embassy, Banjul Big Lottery Fund, UK Canada Fund ECOWAS European Union Fondacion De France International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) – NEMA project Oxfam America Treasury Wine Estates United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) United Nations World Food Program (WFP) US Department of State USAID

Concern Universal The Gambia & Senegal P.O. Box 2164 Serrekunda The Gambia

In 2013-14, we worked with 13 local partners, the Government, civil society and the private sector; Channelling 43 million GMD ($1.3m USD) of development aid to help

Contact: tel: +220 4494 473 fax: +220 4494 474 email: tony.jansen@concern-universal.org Website: www.concern-universal.org/gambia FB: www.facebook.com/concernuniversalGambiaandSenegal

Concern Universal, 21 King St, Hereford, HR4 9BX, UK. Tel +44 (0)1432 355111. www.concern-universal.org. Registered as a Charity No: 272465

almost84,000people improve their lives.

for people, for good

Concern Universal:

We are guided by our experience of 20 years’ practical development in partnership with Gambian and Senegalese people and organisations to focus on these areas. They represent where we understand that we can help the most people in the most important ways.

Senegambia

Welcome' 2013-14 was a year of transition on multiple fronts. In the region there was the transition from the Sahel drought to the final stages of the recovery phase - but many ongoing challenges and vulnerabilities remain. There was transition in the peace process in Casamance - with a defacto ceasefire holding and a real sense that lasting peace may finally be achievable. A transition stage for the Gambia economy with livelihoods under pressure from inflation and uncertain economic outlook. In Guinea Bissau, a fragile state, the holding of elections in 2014 is expected to be a milestone in the countries return normality.

We focused on stronger partnerships: WASDA and ASAPID pioneered a new model with local partners in the lead of implementation - we have had great feedback on that approach which we will expand.

We put into action new partnerships: one with Reliance Financial Services & support of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund to provide services (advisory and financial) to famers (and where needed value chain actors) to help small farmers ‘step up’ to farming as a business.

We worked on our new strategic plan for the coming five years which will be finalized in 2014. The focus is: resilience for the poorest; stepping out of poverty through agriculture and other livelihood commercialization – increasingly driven by the private sector; & capacity building to enable a strong civil society & supporting better service delivery by local authorities.

We explored regional expansion: we've established new partners in Guinea Bissau, continue to work hard in developing programs with our Senegal partners building on our long history in Casamance.

For me personally this was a year of great personal loss and I thank all those who helped support me through it. I think 2014 will be a strong year of program growth - consolidating the gains & learning we have made in recent years. We deliver real value for money for a modest scale program and I know we can do much more in coming years.

We completed an impact study on rice irrigation and micro loans to farmers in the Gambia.

Disaster'Risk'ReducEon'and'Response' Despite a recovery in cereal production in the 2012/2013 harvest and projected increases in 2013/2014, access to food is constrained by high food prices and the lingering effects of last years food crisis. Two thirds of households in The Gambia face food insecurity, of which 5.5 percent suffer from ‘moderate’ to ‘severe’ food insecurity. The nutrition status of the under five population has deteriorated over the last five years and is expected to intensify in 2014 due to factors including; poverty, increasing household food insecurity, poor infant feeding practices, disease burden, limited knowledge and low awareness of care givers on nutrition.

We partner with the National Disaster Management Agency: we supported them in revising the national contingency plan. Oxfam revised its contingency plan together with its Gambian Humanitarian Country Team of which Concern Universal is the lead. We worked with NDMA in a risk zone mapping exercise throughout the Gambia. In our resilience work 8 community forests were protected under community management structures in Casamance, Senegal – celebrated with a forest festival (cover photo on this report). We are planning some major new work on: mangrove conservation; soil fertility management for rain fed crops; and seed saving networks and on farm conservation of agriculture diversity.

Results' D22,042,284'

impact'

7,006'people'

D2,559,778'

impact'

2,308'people'

Rights

D6,412,490'

impact'

4,830'people'

Skills

D7,885,095'

impact'

5,253'people'

Vulnerability

D3,000,000'

impact'

64,145'people'

Health

Some examples of the result of our work this year: improved and expanded dry season pump irrigated rice production in 5 communities, putting 35 hectares under year round production; we established 22 productive communal vegetable gardens; Under the farming as a business initiative, we supported over 900 farmers to take on farming as business – developing business plans; and where needed accessing loans from new partner Reliance Financial Services. The result of these initiatives among others during the year 2013/2014, has enabled 2490 people to improved their crop and livestock yields; 84 people have established business; 5842 people trained in new agricultural techniques; 1680 trees planted into the immediate environment of the beneficiaries; 35 people(mostly youths) have accessed micro finance loans; 11 marketing federations formed; 5036 CBOs members capacity developed. The impact of these results has reduced the hungry months of 4432 people from 6 to 0 months.

In 2013 we contributed to the protracted relief and recovery operation in The Gambia. We provided Water, Sanitation and Hygiene promotion activities through radio programs, the cleaning of drains, capacity building for our partners through the training on Community Led Total Sanitation. Communities showed strong acceptance of the ‘tippy tap’ – a simple hand washing innovation which we have pioneered in the Gambia – and told us they could already see the improvement in their children’s health evidenced by less visits to clinics.

Tony Jansen Country Director Gambia - Senegal

Food Security

Improved'agricultural'producEvity'and'farm'incomes' People lead the agenda and influence what we do and how we do it. In The Gambia over 70% of the poor relies on agriculture to provide food and income for their families and also to feed the cities and towns through selling their surplus produce. This shaped our focus to enhance the capacity of the poorest farmers and their families in order to earn a decent and dignified living.

The country has experienced dramatic climate changes in recent years making this work more important. We worked in: horticultural, livestock and agro-forestry practices; have access to potable water; access to new markets; dry season rice irrigation; alternative source of fuel wood through use of pressed briquettes; to take on new initiatives such as encouraging farmers to take on farming as a business by moving away from the subsistence culture.

In total 83,542 people in Gambia and Senegal were directly assisted to improve their lives, with improved food security, better health, greater respect for rights, improved skills and less vulnerability.

New'partnerships'in'Guinea'Bissau'and'Gambia' During the year we developed and signed partnership agreement with Women Initiative The Gambia (WIG) who are one of three partner to implement Women Empowerment Project funded

by EC/NSA. That project will work with the West Coast Farmers Federation Fangsoto as a partner for the first time and we are supporting the development of farmers Federations in 2 other regions.

With support from UNDEF Project, the national NGO umbrella body in The Gambia, TANGO became part of the sub-regional network WACSF and also gained observer status from Africa Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS).

During the year CU further explored program expansion in Guinea Bissau and is developing partnerships with some NGO’s including Tiniguena, ADIM, and MNSC - “Movemento Nacional de Sociedade Civil para a Paz, Democracia e Desenvolvimento”. Our work in Guinea Bissau is likely to focus on social accountability and civil society building - responding the challenging conditions of one of the poorest countries in the world and weakest states in Africa.

Building Capacity Building the Capacity of Gambian and Senegalese Organizations focused on our partners, umbrella civil society organisations, farmer federations and support to local government and Local authorities.

We also continue to focus on nurturing social enterprises – our advisory role with HaygroveGambia is Good continues and we are developing a BDS – Business Development Services Unit providing extension advise to commercial farmers that will eventually become its own private sector entity.

In the UNDEF Project: 4 policy dialogue forums were organized

by TANGO – bringing together civil society & government to discuss and clarify policy issues.

TANGO conducted 3 training sessions including: involving law enforcement agencies on Child Protection, Violence Against Women.

Our partners in Casamance are linking more than ever with a program development and networking officer now based in Diouloulou in the ASAPID office – a partner that has been greatly strengthened in the last year. We are seeing the results of this – for example the soon to be implamented Building Sustainable Peace in the Fogni project funded

by USAID involved 8 CBOs in its planning .

In Gambia MOU review meetings were held with our government partners: MOA, NEA, NALA and Ministry of Justice. Two partner consortium meetings were held to review CU’s strategic plan – more on that in the near future!