GreenUp Gambia: Restoring nature and benefiting livelihoods

I grew up watching my mother support a local charity in The Gambia, and from my first visit at the age of 13, I fell in love with the country and the resilience of its people and their deep connection between community and environment.

The Gambia is on the frontline of climate change. Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and land degradation are threatening lives and livelihoods—especially in farming, which form the backbone of the country’s economy. Around 75% of the population is employed in agriculture, and the vast majority of crops are rain-fed, leaving communities extremely vulnerable to climate shocks. In some years, crop losses have reached as high as 70%, which has led to extreme poverty in certain areas.

Over 50% of the population lives below the poverty line, and in rural areas, this figure rises to over 60%. Over half of Gambians are also under 25 years of age and unemployed, depending on land for food security. Yet the country continues to lose forests and arable land due to desertification and wider climate-related impacts.

Green-Up Gambia has been doing pioneering work for a number of years, taking action on climate change, supporting the livelihoods of its people, and revitalising the local economy. Their approach is grounded in community engagement, education, and practical solutions.

I’m raising funds for three projects that sit at the heart of this mission:

Seed Banking Project in Northern Gambia– Supporting food security by preserving indigenous, climate-resilient seeds for future generations. The seed banks will ensure farmers have access to high-quality seeds for planting throughout the year. The initiative will boost agricultural productivity in vulnerable communities and empower women and youth by providing training for seed collection, storage and sustainable farming practices.

Summer Go Green – Summer Go Green has become a movement for change, led by hundreds of young Gambian volunteers. The campaign is a flagship program of Green Up Gambia’s one million trees initiative, which has an aim for 10,000 hectares of Gambia’s degraded land to be restored. The funding will provide more resources for the team to achieve this goal.

Green Schools Project – Embedding climate education into Gambian schools by building tree nurseries and educating students on agroforestry. They are focused on nurturing the next generation of environmental stewards. To date, they have run for 3 years and worked with 35 schools. The aim is to continue this initiative and double this in the next two years.

Green-Up Gambia’s work matters — both for the the environment and for the people. They are taking local action with global significance. They are focused on community-powered solutions, in giving people the tools to shape their own land and local communities.

I would be incredibly grateful if you would consider supporting this fundraise in any way you can. It will change lives and restore the local environments. I will also be sharing the future impact of what your support has created.

As part of this fundraise, I also have a bi-weekly newsletter which spotlights leading voices of individuals driving real change in The Gambia across climate change and social impact. The first newsletter is on the incredible story of Kemo Fatty, the Founder of GreenUp Gambia who is now running for President of Gambia (read it here).

I am also running a marathon on 21st June as part of the fundraise.

All proceeds will go to GreenUp Gambia. Find out more about their work here.