This is very alarming if  it is true that "women pretend to cook, until their
children fall asleep" according to article.
I know the fact that folks in Kuntaur Fullakunda who used to cultivate rice
twice a year have not done so this year because their fields are part of the
proposed rice project which has still not taken off. I am sure this summer will
be very difficult for the community because they have no reserves.

Momodou Camara
------------------
As 149 out of 161 poorest nations Gambian poverty deepens 'drastically'
Undp Report paints sordid scenario

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
June 28, 2002
Posted to the web June 28, 2002

By Lamin M. Dibba
Banjul

Gambian poverty has worsened drastically, maintaining the country's status
as one of the poorest nations in the world according to the latest UNDP
Human Development Index.

According to the report since 1993, the poverty situation in The Gambia has
aggravated steadily and has reached a 'drastic' level of 60 percent, a situation
being blamed on a combination of factors.

In the UNDP Human Development Index for the year 2001 The Gambia is
being ranked 149 out of 161 countries described as the poorest nations in the
world. According to the report one of the factors is what it calls a narrow
resource base, which translates as a major inhibiting factor to Gambia's
economic resilience. It adds that an already acute poverty situation is being
constantly aggravated by a high population growth rate over the last nine
years.

According to the April 2002 report of the Strategy for Poverty Alleviation Co-
coordinating Office (SPACO), a series of exogenous shocks in the 1970s and
'80s coupled with inappropriate policies led to a decline in GDP growth from
7.25 percent during the 70s to 3.25 percent during the late 80s. According to
the report positive results in terms of stabilization under the economic reform
program and its successor program could not be sustained as the economy
suffered adverse shocks part of which was engendered by the political
upheavals of 1994, which according to the report adversely affected tourism
and the flow of aid to the country.

'Poverty in The Gambia has increased drastically since 1993. Urban poverty
is sharply on the rise. Poverty is a predominantly rural phenomenon,
spanning income poverty, human poverty and poverty of representation and
participation. Gender dimension of poverty shows that women are more
vulnerable to specific aspects of poverty, relating to income and access to
property. People in The Gambia have different ways of coping with poverty
and most of these involve food security.

People eat with their neighbours in times of need and reduce the numbers of
meals they have a day to sometimes as few as one meal per day.

People hire their labour to others rather than grow their own food.

Some indicators of poverty are also coping mechanisms such as women
pretending to cook, until their children fall asleep' the report explains.

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