Abstract:
Saline-water intrusion is a growing problem for sustaining agricultural productivity along River Gambia as
results of sea-level rise. On this concern, the study attempts to examine farmers’ knowledge and adaptive
responses to saline-water intrusion on the rice-growing areas of Lower River Region (LRR) of The Gambia. Five
villages practicing swamp rice farming along River Gambia were randomly selected in each of four randomly
selected districts across the Region. Data were collected via semi-structured interview questionnaire from 240
farmer household heads and through 20 focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics in SPSS Software Version
23 were, therefore, used to analyze the data obtained from the respondents. Results revealed that 96% of farmers
are aware of saline-water intrusion in the region, while 77.5% believed that there is an increasing trend of
salinity over the last five years, which impacts their yields. Most farmers (>85%) believed that saline-water
intrusion reduced both their yields and incomes. In term of adaptive responses, the major on-farm strategies
included changing the planting date (59.60%), increased use of fertilizers and seeds (56.30%), intensive manure
application (55.20%), and use of early maturing varieties (35.50%). The major off-farm strategies employed
included use of weather forecast (18.60%), change from crop production to animal rearing (7.70%) and to
marketing of agricultural products (7.70%). Challenges faced by farmers in adapting to saline-water included
among others poor access to adaptation information, low extension services and limited access to improved crop
varieties. The study recommends to Government and stakeholders to establish mechanisms to strengthen and
enhance the quality of saline-water intrusion adaptation and information dissemination in the study area using
farmers’ preferred sources of information. Also, stakeholders and Government have to provide saline-tolerant
rice cultivars to farmers and intensify the construction of soil and water conservation structures (anti-salt dikes
and spillways) as well as training on livelihood diversification activities for farmers in the area.
