Introduction - UNDP The Gambia

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5.2.5 Ensuring Environmental
Sustainability: Challenges
The rural communities have always had
traditional practices of environmental
conservation and protection of the
ecosystems. It would be necessary to work
closely with them to share the best practices
in the light of the competing interests. For
example, the communities are seen to be
responsible for the degradation of the forest
resources, and contestations have arisen
between state actors and the communities.
The challenges are that even though the
policies are put in place, the environment is
still vulnerable to deforestation. Working
closely with the traditional structures would
bring out the best practices they have adopted
in preserving the environment such as tongo.
The past protection of rhun palm is an
example within a more general set of
practices known as tongo, or local sanctions
concerning the use of environmental
resources over a period of time, as agreed
upon by the whole community or Council of
Elders.
Such rules and sanctions were used to protect
plants and animals in the forest until they
reached maturity and the maximum capacity
for harvesting. When the fruit was ripe, it
would be announced to the community that
people could begin harvesting it. In this way,
fruits, trees, fish and animals were protected
and there was no need to compete over
resources.
The challenge of meeting the targets of goal
seven of the MDGs is the increasing loss of
biodiversity due to the over- exploitation of
the ecosystem. The Gambia depends a lot on
trees for firewood as well as land for other
development purposes and, as such, people
normally fell trees without putting in
replacements. The policies put in place to
protect the environment are not implemented
effectively.
5.3 Challenges of the Traditional
System
While the traditional structures are a source
of inspiration and strength, they are also
fraught with challenges. They do not have the
required skills to respond to the localised
MDGs effectively. They are usually poorly
resourced and hardly have the financial
ability to undertake development work
efficiently.
Also, some of them are being politicised and,
as a result, the traditional sense of belonging
that these systems used to provide to their
members is waning. They used to be built on
, respect and common understanding to
achieve the common good of all in the
community. For example, the kafoo were a
ready source of labour to the community both
at the village and the household level. When,
for example, Karamo fell ill, his kafoo
members supported him on his farm and he
would never be short of labour as a result of
his sickness.
Similarly, the kafoo guarantees the labour
force for communal work. Roads, seed stores,
schools, hospitals and other social amenities
are provided in many communities with the
utilisation of the kafoolu. Both men’s and
women’s kafoo are a ready source of support
to achieve the development goals. The rural
development projects of the early 1990s
relied on traditional structures.
Some of the traditional structures are not
gender representative and, as such, decisionmaking
is predominantly male dominated.
Women are hardly involved in the
discussions and where they are available they
are only tokens. For example, the VDC is
gender blind and gender biased. It has been
noted that the women who are normally
chosen to be part of the VDC are either wives
of the alkalo or important community
members who are normally not true
representatives of the women.
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Building Capacity for the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals in The Gambia National Human Development Report 2005
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