In The Gambia, poverty is often treated as an economic challenge. But in fragile contexts, it is also a peace challenge. When young people and women - the backbone of rural communities are excluded from meaningful economic life - the consequences stretch far beyond lost income. Such exclusion breeds frustration, fuels irregular migration, and deepens fragility. However, promoting inclusion restores dignity, strengthens social bonds, and builds peace.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the West Coast and Lower River Regions of The Gambia, home to more than half (51.2%) of the country’s 2.42 million population. Agriculture is the predominant activity in these areas but remains locked in subsistence practices. Crop yields are low, markets are distant, and climate shocks erode already thin resilience. As a result, many rural youths no longer perceive farming as a viable long-term option. 

But what if agriculture could be transformed from merely ensuring survival into becoming a catalyst for peace?

Inclusive Growth as the Missing Peace Pillar

Multiple national frameworks point in the same direction. The 2024 Conflict and Development Analysis produced with support from the UN identifies economic exclusion as one of The Gambia’s most acute drivers of fragility. The National Action Plan on Youth, Peace and Security 2025 highlights how unemployment undermines the social contract, while the Women, Peace and Security Action Plan 2025 stresses that marginalizing women weakens community resilience.

Together these instruments underscore a simple truth: inclusive growth is a fundamental part of peacebuilding which helps create lasting peace and prevents conflict. By tackling issues such as income inequality and socioeconomic exclusion, inclusive growth promotes stability, ensures that everyone shares in economic progress, provides equal opportunities, and inspires participation in decision-making.

What This Looks Like in Practice

With support from the Government of Japan through the 2024 Japan Supplementary Budget (JSB), UNDP and the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Agriculture are demonstrating an integrated model for turning agriculture into a platform for stability.

In the West Coast and Lower River Regions, 800 women and youth are being supported through a three-part pathway:

• Resilient production: Initiatives like community gardening, food processing, composting, and climate-smart agriculture aim to improve yields and reduce vulnerabilities

• Access to finance and markets: Training in budgeting, digital finance, marketing, and savings will help participants turn production into income and dignity.

• Sustained mentorship: Agribusiness leaders and entrepreneurs provide coaching and incubation so that skills translate into viable enterprises - not abandoned projects.

This pathway builds a continuum from subsistence to self-reliance, and from vulnerability to resilience. It resonates strongly with the Recovery-Focused National Development Plan (2023–2027) and UNDP’s next Strategic Plan (2026–2029) which place prosperity and resilience at the centre of peace and development.

A Story of Peace From the Kiang Gardens

The strongest evidence of impact comes not just from data but from people.

During the JSB-funded Climate Smart Agriculture training in late November 2025, 400 women from Pakalinding and Sankuya, villages only a few kilometres apart yet historically distant from one another, were trained together under this project for the first time.

“From the minute Sankuya women stepped down from the vehicle,” one participant, Mariama, recalled, “Pakalinding women ran to greet us. We ate from the same bowl. We worked side by side. You cannot tell who is from where anymore.”

By day four, they had dissolved the old boundaries. They will now have one collective women & youth forum for both villages. They will also have one voice on prices for produce and one shared platform for engaging the Alkalo (village head) and the national youth council. “When the training ends, the daily meetings will stop, but the WhatsApp group and monthly forum will continue”. “Because of this garden,” Mariama said, “real peace has come between us.”

A Call to Action

The lessons from rural Gambia are clear:

• Break the silos: Training alone is not transformative. Real impact comes from linking production, finance, markets, and mentorship.
• Sustain the peace dividends: Government, private sector, and civil society should embed inclusive growth models into national peace strategies.
• Recognize rural innovators: Women and youth entrepreneurs are not just economic actors -they are peacebuilders and agents of change.

Tackling poverty in fragile settings goes beyond economic development; it is deeply linked to fostering peace. When we transform agriculture from a symbol of hardship into a source of dignity and opportunity, we reduce fragility, strengthen resilience, and lay the groundwork for lasting peace.

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About the Japan Supplementary Budget (JSB):
This initiative is made possible through the generous support of the Government of Japan, whose partnership with UNDP is empowering communities across The Gambia. Through this investment in inclusive growth and resilience, Japan is helping transform agriculture into a driver of opportunity and peace for women and youth in the West Coast and Lower River Regions.