8-HAZARD PFOFILE GAMBIA-REPORT

Bibhuti Bhusan Gadanayak, DRR & CCA Specialist, NDMA-UNDP, The Gambia, West Africa

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NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY 55 Kairaba Avenue, Serekunda, The Gambia, West Africa

hazard profile of

of The Gambia


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Hazard Profile of The Gambia 1.1. The Gambia Overview ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1.2. Development of Hazard Profile of The Gambia : Process ......................................................................................................................................................... 1.3. Objectives and scope ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1.4 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 1.5 Major hazards identified and experienced in The Gambia………………………………………………………………………………………… 1.6 Limitations ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1.7 Hazard wise risk ranking………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2. Disease outbreak 2.1. Causes and Characteristics of disease outbreak in The Gambia ........................................................................................................................................... . 2.2. Immunization ..................................................................................................... ………………………………………………………………………… 2.3. Disease outbreak response plan:................................................................................................................................................................................................... . 2.4. Causes of disease outbreak:............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 2.5 Map showing Disease outbreak areas……………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 3. Floods 3.1. Flooding in The Gambia ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... . 3.3. Flood Vulnerable Locations ........................................................................................... ………………………………………………………………... 3.4. Major Floods in the Past ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3.5. Flood Risk Reduction Initiatives in The Gambia ....................................................... ………………………………………………………………... 3.6 Map showing Flood affected areas in the Gambia………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4. Drought 4.1. Drought in western Sahel region ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4.2. Major areas affected by drought:................................................................................................................. ……………………………………………….. 4.3. Dropped in productivity:................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5. Fire………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6. Pest Invasion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….


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1.1 The Gambia Overview

The Republic of the Gambia is located on the Atlantic coast of Africa, between latitudes 130 N and 140 N and Longitude 140 W and 170 W. Occupying a total area of 11,420 sq km, the Gambia consists of two narrow strips of land from 6 to 26 km wide, extending 320 km east along the banks of the River Gambia. The Republic of Senegal is the Gambia’s only neighbour. Occupying an area 20 times the size of the Gambia, Senegal surrounds the Gambia on the north, east and south.

Map of The Gambia Demographics of The Gambia 2015

Population 1.8 million (M:49.5%, F:50.5%)

Population density 176.1/sq km

Life expectancy 64.1

Total area 11,300 sq km, 48% of total land is <20 meter, one third of the country land at or below 10 m, only 4% of the country’s land area is above 50 m. to sea level

No. of Regions &

Municipalities

5 Regions and 2 Municipalities

GDP 4.3

Source: Gambia 2013 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Result and IMF reports of The Gambia

1.2 Development of Hazard Profile of The Gambia : Process

The hazard profile has been developed in consultative and multi-partnership mode. The scope of this report was discussed with Government Ministries and Departments, UN Agencies, International NGOs namely Action Aid, The Gambia, Professional Associations and NGOs in briefing-cum-consultation workshops held during March to July 2015. The data was collected from the libraries, Ministries, Departments, Universities, UN Agencies and INGOs, NGOs, research papers on hazards and websites. Also, Annual reports of Ministries and Departments and different reports of The Gambia on Disaster Management were referred. The agencies participated in the consultations namely; Action Aid, Department of Water Resources, National Environment Agency, Gambia Red Cross Society, Lands and Survey, Child Fund, UNDP, UNICEF,WFP, FAO, Gambia Fire and Rescue Service, Concern Universal, Gambia Ports Authority, Gambia Civil Aviation Authority, Department of Physical Planning, National Road Authority, Department of Health, Food Safety and Quality Control Authority, Gambia Bureau of Statistics, Director Forestry and Agriculture Planning Service Unit


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Objectives and scope

The objectives of ‘Hazard Profile of The Gambia is as follows:

To compile existing information on the major natural hazards of The Gambia and provide an overview

To serve as one of the base documents for future in-depth hazard assessment and natural disaster risk profiling of The Gambia

To give an overview of future areas of interventions in the context of risk assessment of The Gambia

The scope of hazard profile covers five frequent natural hazards namely; Disease outbreak, Flood, Drought, Wild fire, Pest invasion causing highest impact risk in addition to other hazards. Its geographical scope covers the whole of The Gambia. 1.4 Methodology: This exercise of hazard profiling of The Gambia involved desk review and synthesis of information from published and unpublished reports, papers published in peer reviewed journals, review of archives, conference proceedings and collection of information from the different Government departments, UN Agencies, NGOs and INGOs. Data was also accessed from international databases such as; emdat and prevention web. 1.5 Major hazards identified and experienced in The Gambia The Gambia has experienced several disasters in the last 11 decades. As per the record, most of people in The Gambia are affected by drought, whereas maximum people died in epidemic. However, flood is a recurrent phenomenon in The Gambia. The major vulnerable areas to flood hazard in the Gambia are; K.M.C, B.C.C., W.C.R, N.B.R, C.R.R, U.R.R. Forest fire: L.R.R., Population Movements: WR, Oil spills: Greater Banjul Area, Disease outbreaks: NBR and URR. 1.6 Limitations The hazard profile does not take into account the climate change impact disasters in the context of The Gambia. It is purely based on secondary data. The historical data for certain hazards covers limited duration. The report also doesn’t take into consideration wider economic and social impacts of these hazards.


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Risk analysis Source: National Contingency Plan 2014

Fire 3.73

Disease

Out break

4.00

Drought 3.75

Pest Invasion

3

Flood 4.20

Haz

ard

wis

e ri

sk r

anki

ng

Likelihood risk

Hazard wise Risk Ranking

Risk identified Likelihood risk Impact risk

Disease outbreak 4.00 4.55

Flood 4.20 4.18

Drought 3.75 4.25

Fire 3.73 3.23

Pest invasion 3.00 3.00


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0

341

69 6

0

Total deaths occured in disasters 1900 to as of 2014

Drought

Epidemic

Flood & storm

Insect infestation

Wildfire

1258000

909

91869 18406 5000

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

Drought Epidemic Flood & stormInsect infestation Wildfire

People affected in different disaster 1900 to as of 2014 Total affected

Gambia Vulnerability

Source: EM-Dat The Gambia has been vulnerable, in varying degrees, to a large number of natural, as well as, human-made disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. It is highly vulnerable to floods, disease outbreak, droughts, fire accident, paste invasion etc. Out of 5 regions and 2 municipalities, all most all of the areas are prone to one or other hazards. The historical disaster database says maximum people affected in Tha Gambia is out of Drought, whereas; majority death occurs due to disease outbreak.


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2. Floods 2.1. Flooding in The Gambia: The varying topography of The Gambia is one of the key factors that lead to the recurrence of floods in the country. About 20% of Gambia’s land space is covered by freshwater swamps and salt marshes, which serve as a trigger for riverine flooding. Flood and flash floods are common in both the rural and urban areas, with a trigger including continuous rainfall which increases the water levels of the rivers. This can be exacerbated by poor drainage systems, non-adherence to physical planning regulations, waterlogged soils, riverine flooding and high tidal levels. 2.2. Flood Vulnerable Locations: The major flood affected areas in The Gambia are as follows; Banjul (Tobbaco Road, Halfotie), NBR (Farafenni, Bara, Pakaw Nijogu, Nitungu Kebbeh), KMC (Bundudng bohole, Kototustream settlements, Ebo town, Talinding, Abuko, Fajie Kunda, En-bakau) WCR (Nemakunku, Brikama jambarr Sanneh, Brikama Gidda, Brikama Sanchaba, Nema Jola kunda), LRR ( Soma, Pakalinding, Junoi, Kwinella), CRR (Bansang, Kuntaour), URR (Kabakamma, Base) 2.3. Major Floods realised in the Past : Historical records of floods date as far back as 1948, 1954, 1955, 1956. Recent floods were in 1988, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004-2011. While flash floods prevail in the urban areas, rural areas mainly experience riverine floods. Among all 2010 floods was devastating, it affected over 50,000 people of which 22% of them were displaced. Vulnerable groups comprised of 12% and included: 9% - children under 5; 2% pregnant mothers; 1% physically challenged.

Source: NDMA, The Gambia

The map showing flood prone areas of the Gambia is not accurate, this may not referred anywhere in any form


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2.4. Flood Risk Reduction Initiatives in The Gambia: In order to address the recurrent flood issues number of preparedness measures taken by the Government of Gambia. The contingency plans have been developed and updated as a preparedness measure in order to respond in emergency. 3. Disease outbreak 3.1. Causes and Characteristics of disease outbreak in The Gambia: Disease outbreak is a major challenge in The Gambia, particularly for diseases like cholera, meningitis and livestock disease. As of recent, this has been further complicated by the threat of Ebola to human lives. The current epidemic trend remains serious, with high numbers of new cases and deaths being reported within Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Senegal, which could easily spill over to The Gambia via Senegal, given free movement of people who frequently use the route to buy commodities, visit relatives and attend religious events. As of ending September 2014, the cumulative number of cases attributed to Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) in these countries stands at 4,985, including 2, 461 deaths (WHO 2014). 3.2 Immunization: The immunization campaigns against outbreaks of disease, such as cholera, by the Gambia Government in partnership with the United Nations Agencies through World Health Organization has reduced the high rate of disease outbreaks in the Gambia. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) has immunized some Gambians against meningitis. 3.3 Disease outbreak response plan: The MoHSW has already in place a response plan for cholera. Since then, the Ministry of Health has embarked on health education on sanitation and personal hygiene which helped to curb the impacts of outbreaks in 2009 and 2010. 3.4 Causes of disease outbreak: Due to the recurrence of floods in KMC, WCR and CRR there were serious cholera outbreaks in 1998, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 which resulted in deaths of children (source: Ministry of Health). The recent outbreak of the Cattle Disease, Contagious Bovine Pleuronemonia (CBPP) in 2012 led to approximately 5000 cattle deaths. 4. Drought 4.1 Drought in western Sahel region: The Drought is one of the major challenges posed by future global climate change in the western Sahel region in general and The Gambia in particular is increased frequency and severity of drought events. Direct impacts of frequent persistent droughts include ecosystem desiccation through increased salinization in freshwater wetland and mangrove ecosystems, loss of productivity in croplands, saltwater intrusion up the river, deforestation, and loss of productivity and biodiversity in woodland ecosystems as a result of wildfires and land use change.


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4.2 Major areas affected by drought: Majority of the areas of the Gambia are prone to drought. The Meteorological Station data in Banjul between 1951 and 1985 show both a high annual variability in total annual rainfall and a downward trend in mean annual rainfall. Anyadike reported mean annual rainfall between 1950 and 1966 to be 1347 mm, compared to 853mm during the period 1967 to 1985 (Anyadike 1993). Also the length of rainy season had decreased by an estimated 15 to 30 days across the country (Norton, Mills et al. 1989). More than 98% of agricultural lands in the Gambia are rain-fed, so a decline in rainfall (amountand distribution) along with increased temperatures are expected to constrain productivity of crops such as maize, groundnut and millet (Binnewerg and Touray 1999). So far as the drought recovery is concern especially NBR and CRR North recovery from drought is difficult due to the high reliance on rain-fed agriculture in the country. 4.3 Dropped in productivity: In 2007 total rice production dropped by about 68% (from 35,900 tonnes in 2002 to 11,395 tonnes in 2007). Similarly the drop in the production of coarse grains (e.g Maize Sorghum, Millet) was about 27% (from 248,400 tonnes in 2003 to 181,400 tonnes in 2007), mainly due to drought that led to reduced yields. Since the 1960s, large areas of freshwater swamps in western Gambia have been replaced by salt pans or salt water marshes, as a result of reduced fresh water inflow from storm runoff. 5. Fire Total forest area of The Gambia is approximately 461,600 ha. According to the Forestry Department, in 2004, 183,803 ha of the forest area were burnt. Forest fires have been and continue to be a problem in The Gambia with negative impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods, the economy, the ecosystem, the fauna and flora. In the LRR, about 70% of community forests and 95% of forest parks were destroyed during this season. The primary causes are slash and burn crop agriculture, hunting, wild honey harvesting and charcoal burning. According to the Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment Report of 2006 executed by NDMA, bush fires constantly damage the environment of The Gambia, burning both rangeland and fallow lands. The resultant disturbed woodland and savannah vegetation also accumulates large amounts of combustible material during the rainy season, which results in fires in the dry season. This promotes a vicious cycle of forest destruction in The Gambian communities. These annual bush fires lead to desertification, accelerated wind and soil erosion, and prevalence in arable lands. Forest fires are more common in the rural than urban areas.


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6. Pest Invasion The Gambia has experienced paste invasion very frequently among them are;

Year Causes Area

1986 Grasshopper on rice & vegetables All areas of the country

1988 Locust on fruit trees, vegetables and field crops All areas of the country

2004-2014 Fruit fly on mangoes All areas of the country

Red spider mite on vegetable crops All areas of the country

2004-2005 Locust on fruit trees NBR, WCR, LRR, CRR & URRR

2014 Army worms on cereals URR and WCR

2012 – 2014 Red-billed quelea birds on swamp rice LRR, CRR, and NBR

Source: Data collected from various sources and compiled together, which includes; National Contingency Plan 2011, 2011 and 14, Country documents on DN and CC

The Hazard data base of the Gambia

Yr. of hazard

Type of hazard Areas affected (geographical area) Death toll

Population

Affected

Damag

e 000 $

Region Districts

Ward Village

1968 Flood 180000 500

1971 Flood 150000 200

1973 Flood 5000 189

1978 Epidemic 200 130000 800

1980 ????? 500000 600

1996 Flood URR Basse town + Mannhe Kunda, Samba Tako, Geroba Bassending, Tamba

0 4000 160


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Sansang

1997 Epidemic 120 793 120

1998 Miscellaneous accident

Galler Manda 0 1000 40

1999 Flood CRR Central River & Upper River divisions

53 32000 53

2000 Epidemic URR Upper River division 21 116 21

2001 Flood KMC Kachikally, Farokono areas (Bakau) 1 250 1

2002 Transport accident

9 0 10

2002 Drought 0 0

2003 Storm URR Mansajang Kunda, Manneh Kunda, Alluhareh, Basse, Kobe Kunda (Basse Santa Su area, Upper River Division

3 8019 3

2004 Storm URR Allunhari, Kanubeh, Nyakoi Kerewan Nyakoi Taibatu (Basse region)

2 6137 2

2004 Insect infestation 0 0

2007 Flood Sinchu Bala 0 300


Tanji 32 15


Serrekunda 10 6

2008 Storm Darsilameh village (Western region) 0 300

2008 Flood 0 400

2009 Storm Banjul, River Region 0 2350

2009 Flood 5 14258 5

2010 Flood WCR, CRR, URR, NBR, KMC

Western, Upper River, Lower River, North Bank, Central River regions, Kanifing Municipal Council

8 21194

2010 Flood WCR 1 17767 8


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2012 Drought 0 428000

2013 Flood CRR, WCR 2 3300 2

2014 Epidemic Banjul Municipality, Central River, Kanifing Municipality, Lower River, North Bank, Upper River, West Coast

0 0

Source: The data is collected from various resources such as; D. Guha-Sapir, R. Below, Ph. Hoyois - EM-DAT: International Disaster Database –www.emdat.be – Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels – Belgium, NDMA, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, Action Aid, DWR References.

1. D. Guha-Sapir, R. Below, Ph. Hoyois - EM-DAT: International Disaster Database – www.emdat.be – Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels – Belgium

2. Gadanayak, BB and Routray JK (2010), A Path to Disaster resilient Communities, Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany. http://www.amazon.com/path-disaster-resilient-communities-multi-hazard/dp/3843366667

3. Jaiteh, MS (2011) Climate Change and Development in the Gambia, Challenges to Ecosystem Goods and ServicesDepartment of Water Resources, Banjul, The Gambia http://www.columbia.edu/~msj42/pdfs/ClimateChangeDevelopmentGambia_small.pdf

4. Multi-Hazard National Contingency Plan of The Gambia 2011-13 5. Multi-Hazard National Contingency Plan of The Gambia 2014-16 6. Yaffa, S. (2013). Loss and damage from drought in the North Bank Region of The Gambia, Loss and Damage in Vulnerable Countries

Initiative, case study report. Bonn: United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security. http://www.lossanddamage.net/download/7261.pdf

7. http://www.preventionweb.net/countries/gmb/data/ 8. http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/maps/v.php?id=7698 9. http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisRegion=Africa&ThisCcode=GM

B# 10. Multi-Hazard Map:

http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportalb/home.cfm?page=country_profile&CCode=GMB&ThisTab=NaturalHazards

http://www.amazon.com/path-disaster-resilient-communities-multi-hazard/dp/3843366667

http://www.columbia.edu/~msj42/pdfs/ClimateChangeDevelopmentGambia_small.pdf

http://www.lossanddamage.net/download/7261.pdf

http://www.preventionweb.net/countries/gmb/data/

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/maps/v.php?id=7698

http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisRegion=Africa&ThisCcode=GMB

http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportal/index.cfm?page=country_historical_climate&ThisRegion=Africa&ThisCcode=GMB

http://sdwebx.worldbank.org/climateportalb/home.cfm?page=country_profile&CCode=GMB&ThisTab=NaturalHazards


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NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY 55 Kairaba Avenue, Serekunda, The Gambia, West Africa

For further details please contact: Lt.Col. Alhajie Sanneh, Executive Director, National Disaster Management Agency 55, Kairaba Avenue, Serekunda, The Gambia E-Mail: [email protected]

Ms. Oumie Sissokho Director of Programmes, National Disaster Management Agency 55 Kairaba Avenue, Serrekunda, The Gambia, Email. [email protected]

Mr. Bibhuti Bhusan Gadanayak DRR & CCA Specialist, NDMA-UNDP, The Republic of Gambia 55, Kairaba Avenue, Serekunda, The Gambia Email:[email protected]

8-HAZARD PFOFILE GAMBIA-REPORT

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