Gambia: The Smiling Coast of Africa PDF

| Fishers at Tanji. of Africa 44 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa There are many differences between Gambia and Not a drop of rain falls during the dry season. Sometimes the Netherlands. This s...

| Fishers at Tanji. of Africa 44 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa There are many differences between Gambia and Not a drop of rain falls during the dry season. Sometimes the Netherlands. This section tells you about the the harmattan, a dry dusty wind from the north-east, blows in. special characteristics of life in Gambia. This wind carries sand and dust from the Sahara and can make life very uncomfortable (Figures 4 and 5). Location ► Gambia is in the tropics, on the coast of west Africa. It's the smallest country in Africa, just a little bigger than Gelderland and Noord-Brabant combined. The country is surrounded on three sides by Senegal. The Gambia River, which flows from east to west, divides the country in two. Most people are fascinated when they visit for the first time. Everything is so different from what we know in the Netherlands, especially Gambia's nature. Climate ► Gambia has a (sub)tropical climate with a rainy season and a dry season. It's always warm there and a lot of precipitation falls during the rainy season between mid-June and mid-October. Rain showers usually fall at night and in the morning. But don't worry, even if you get caught in the rain, you won't feel cold because the temperature stays warm enough. FIGURE 5 Areas covered by the dust of the harmattan.  §1 Gambia: a different world 45 Landscape Culture and people ► Gambia's coast has many sandy beaches. In the Gambia ► Life in Gambia is different than life in the Netherlands. We River delta there are many swamps with mangroves (Figure 6). see that in the language, religion, food, clothing and spatial Mangroves grow in saltwater along tropical coasts. planning of the landscape. These are characteristics of every The rest of Gambia is savannah. South of the river there's a culture. Culture is everything you learn when you grow up. savannah forest: grassland with groups of trees. To the north is The official language of Gambia is English. This is the a park savannah landscape, with high grasses, big shrubs and standard language of government, of education and of tourist hardly any trees. areas. More than half of Gambians speak English in addition Since the middle of the twentieth century, the area with to their own tribal language. savannah forest has greatly decreased, especially in the west. About twenty different ethnic groups live in Gambia, each Much of the savannah is now used as agricultural land. But the with their own culture and language (Figure 7). These are tribes expansion of the city of Banjul has also led to deforestation. that are found in nearly all the countries of west Africa. They are The average level of precipitation in the savannah has not segregated into different areas, but all live together. decreased in recent years. This isn't just because of natural The biggest tribe is the Mandinka. About 42% of the popu­ fluctuations in precipitation. Human beings are also having an lation belongs to this group. effect. The combination of deforestation, too much crop farming, The second biggest tribe is the Fula, who make up 18% of overgrazing and the construction of more buildings have the population. Most of the members of this tribe are shepherds caused a decrease in natural vegetation. This leads to less and nomads. evaporation, meaning less water vapour in the air. The air becomes drier and there is less rainfall. Gambians fear that this decrease in precipitation will become worse in the future due Religion to the growing population. ► About 90% of the population of Gambia is Muslim. FIGURE 7 On the left a woman in Fula dress and on the right a About 10% of the population practices the Christian religion or woman in Wolof dress. another religion. Nature worship is forbidden. Nature worship is when people believe in the existence of good spirits and evil spirits. These spirits inhabit trees, animals or objects. By making offerings, followers try to make the spirits act favourably. Wherever you go, you can see how important Islam is. There are mosques everywhere (Figure 8). Even though the majority of the people of Gambia are Muslims, there are no strict rules about dress, as we find in some Middle Eastern countries. We hardly see any headscarves and women don't have to cover their entire body. 72 G 122|G 135 46 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa §2 Rich and poor in Gambia The history of Gambia in recent centuries is closely One hundred years later, a major slave trade got underway. linked to that of Europe, often in a negative way. Europeans bought enslaved people from African kings. Slave ships transported enslaved people from west Africa to the Americas and Caribbean (Figures 10 and 11). A little history It's estimated that more than 12 million enslaved people were transported from Gambia to the Americas. The plantation ► Before Europeans came ashore in west Africa, the area was owners there needed cheap labour. Conditions on the voyage already a multicultural society. Many different peoples lived were horrible. Probably less than half the enslaved people there, with a diversity of languages and religions, and a great reached the final destination. deal of variation in cultural characteristics such as art, music and The Dutch bought and sold human beings for over two architecture. The national borders as they are now drawn did hundred years. In the seventeenth century, the West India not exist. Company needed hands to work on their plantations in Brazil. In the mid-fifteenth century, Europeans arrived in west Africa. Ships loaded with merchant goods sailed to the coast of west First the Portuguese, closely followed by the Spaniards, English, Africa to buy enslaved people. These were Africans who had French and others. They traded with west Africans and built been kidnapped by Dutch human traffickers from the interior dozens of fortified trading posts along the coast. of the continent. In the last part of the seventeenth century, the Dutch were responsible for half of the transatlantic slave X2? tobacco transport. The ships sailed back with goods from the plantations: «I coffee tobacco, cocoa, sugar, cotton and coffee. Our country is cotton responsible for transporting about 600,000 Africans. sugar mining rice Borders —► important slave and trade routes ► Gambia became independent in 1965. Before then the area was the site of conflicts between Great Britain and France. Both countries wanted control of the area. The French wanted the land and the British wanted the river. The Gambia River is easy to navigate and the islands at the mouth of the river were used as communication and trading posts for other colonies in Africa. Different European countries often claimed control of Gambia. The borders were finally fixed around 1900. Great Britain kept control of a small strip of land along the Gambia River. That area was completely surrounded by the French colony Senegal. skills G 21 G 1641 G 2251 G 226  §2 I Rich and poor in Gambia 47 GAMBIA NEGROES. TO BE SOLD, On TUESDAY, the yth of Juki* On board the SHIP Mentor, at MOTTE’s uliarf, Cargos, ef 15# prime healthy young bléi A groés, juft, arrived in faid fhip from tire ri ver Gambia, after a paffage of 35 days. * 'fhe Negroes from this part of the.coaft of Africa, are well acquainted with the cultivation of rice, and ard naturally induftiiou'S; CONDITIONS o7 sale. t To approved purchafers, Bonds payable the firft.of January. O86.-j.and to thofe wno make immë- * - ^vtfrer * a proper difenuht wib be made thereon, ROBERT HAZLEHURST Co. No. 44. tjay. y Approximately 40 kilometres west of Banjul, in the mouth FIGURE 11 Posters show how enslaved people were offered for sale. of the Gambia River, is Kunta Kinteh Island. During the period of slavery it served as a place for holding people who had been captured and enslaved. They were held The reason that Gambia is so narrow is because of the on the island for a couple of weeks in terrible conditions agreement the British and French made about the division of to weaken them both physically and mentally. In this Gambia and Senegal. They agreed that the border between the way, Europeans tried to prevent uprisings breaking out two colonies would be the distance of a canon shot from the during the voyage to the Caribbean and the Americas. river. At the time, this was between 15 and 20 kilometres. The island used to be called James Island. But after an In 1967 Gambia and Senegal signed a cooperation treaty American writer wrote a book about the enslaved young stating the intention that the two countries would eventually man Kunta Kinteh, who was transported from that island become one nation, Senegambia. But in 1989 Senegal decided to the United States, the name was changed. that Gambia was not developing fast enough. Gambia then decided to remain independent. FIGURE 13 Wealth and poverty Level of development ► Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Almost ► Levels of development can be measured in two ways. 50% of the population lives in poverty. The percentage is higher One important development indicator is people's income. in the countryside, almost 70%. We can identify wealth and The average income in the Netherlands is approximately poverty in different ways. € 43,000 per year. That is much more than in Gambia, where One way is to be very observant of what we see. Look around the average income is € 1,400 per year. Average income tells us and see if people are rich or poor. Look at what kind of clo­ something about a country's level of development. Especially thes they are wearing. Or look at the houses, shops and roads if we also look at what a person is able to buy with their money (Figure 12). How do they travel? Is there a lot of rubbish on the (their purchasing power). Income is a good indicator of streets? development. We can also measure wealth and poverty with figures. We But what people earn doesn't tell us everything. We also do this by measuring the different development indicators. For have to look at how people live. Do they have enough to eat? example, we can work out if some people in the country don't Do they have a roof over their heads? Food and shelter are two have enough to eat. Or whether there are enough teachers. of the basic needs, things that everyone has to have for a reasonable quality of life (Figure 14). The average income per person and the level of basic needs tell us about the level of development of a region or country. A region or country is developed when the majority of the population have a good income and can afford the basic needs.  48 3 I Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa Sources: Population characteristics of Gambia This section puts the focus on the population of Population density Gambia. How many people live there, where do they live and what kind of work do they do? In 2017, the population of Gambia was just over This all has a big influence on spatial planning. 2 million. Population density is about 180 people per square kilometre. That doesn't seem like much compared with 413 people per square kilometre in the Netherlands. But it makes Gambia the fourth most densely populated A young population country in Africa. In Gambia about 60% of the population is younger than 25. This will not change in the coming years. On average, a woman has four children. Physician density is very low. The average doctor has 15,000 patients in his or her care. A large number of children die before completing their first year of life. The infant mortality rate is 62%o people per km2 (in the Netherlands it's 3.6%o). That means that for every | | 50 -70 □ 90-120 400-2,600 thousand children born, an average of 62 die. | | 70 -90 » 120-400 H 2,600-5,100 Life expectancy, the average number of years that a person at a certain age still has left to live, is low. The SOURCE 2 average woman will reach the age of 68, calculated at time of birth, and the average man only 65 (in the Netherlands it's close to 82 years). Labour force In Gambia about 75% of the population works in Gambia, 2016 women agriculture. Most farmers are self-sufficient. They 100+ cultivate small plots of land to provide their own needs. 95-99 90 - 94 The seed they can buy is of poor quality and they can't 85-89 | get good fertilizer. Failed harvests lead to greater poverty, 80-84 J food shortages and malnutrition. 75 - 79 I 70-74 g Gambia has very little industry. There are a few factories 65-69 □ that process agricultural products or make packaging material. 50 - 54 45-49 _j agriculture 40-44 I , j industry 35-39 30-34 | services 25-29 20-24 15 - 19 10- 14 5-9 0-4 150 150 x 1,000 age x 1,000 SOURCE 1 Dit bestand is uitsluitend bedoeld voor het gebruik met dyslexiesoftware en mag voor geen andere doeleinden worden gebruikt. SOURCE 3 Dit boek heeft een twee sterrenkwaliteit, d.w.z. dat de leesvolgorde door het softwareprogramma is bepaald, waardoor niet altijd de juiste leesvolgorde kan worden gegarandeerd SKILLS G 9 EEEI ron m G 1741 G 1931 G 210lG 236 en niet alle correct wordt voorgelezen.  §3 ! Sources: Population characteristics of Gambia 49 Education Infrastructure Children are not required to go to school in Gambia. The port of Banjul at the mouth of the Gambia River Roughly a quarter of the population has completed is important for shipping. Small ocean-going vessels primary school. When children go to school their parents can sail 190 kilometres up the river to the centre of the have to pay for it themselves. A school uniform is peanut trade in Kaur. mandatory. Many parents can't afford this. Less than Nearly 750 kilometres of Gambia's total road network a quarter of the children in the countryside go on to of 2,500 kilometres is asphalted. The rest are dirt roads. further education after primary school. Many roads cannot be used during the rainy season between mid-June and mid-October. Import and export Urbanization Gambia's most important export products are peanuts Due to the high unemployment rate and failed harvests and products made from peanuts, such as peanut oil and in the countryside, many people move to the capital cattle feed. If you only grow one crop (monoculture), Banjul. The majority are young people who hope to there is a high risk. If the price that other countries pay build a better future in the city. This means that Banjul for peanuts drops, Gambia has less income and this has grown tremendously over the last thirty years. Little might have a negative impact on the economy. villages in the area have been swallowed up. Gambia imports a lot of its food, tobacco, coffee, tea and It's estimated that Banjul will have a population of machinery. They have to pay more for imports than they 500,000 people in the short term. That makes it one of can bring in with their exports. the smallest capitals in Africa. Because the city is on an island, it can't get much bigger. 50 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa §4 Opportunities for Gambia Although Gambia is one of the poorest countries All these tourists create a lot of jobs. Hotel workers, waiters, in the world, there are possibilities to raise the level souvenir sellers and bus drivers work in direct contact with of development. tourists. This is direct employment: without tourism these jobs would not exist. Indirect employment also increases because of tourism. That means businesses that get extra work thanks to Tourism tourism, like construction workers who build hotels or adverti­ sing agencies who make videos to attract tourists (Figure 17). ► Since 1990, tourism has become very important for the Even with the growth of tourism, 50% of the population is economy. Roughly a quarter of all the money earned in the unemployed. That's why many Gambians work in the informal country comes from tourism. Gambia is especially popular in sector. They work in unskilled and poorly paid jobs in the winter. Most tourists come from the Netherlands and Great service sector. People might earn some money by selling Britain (Figures 15 and 16). cigarettes on the street or vegetables from their own gardens Foreign visitors are mostly attracted by the beautiful beaches at a market. and pleasant climate. In order to attract more tourists, the government has dedicated a strip of land along the south coast between Banjul and Senegal for tourism development. New hotels, restaurants and other tourist facilities will be built here. year FIGURE 16 Development of tourism in Gambia, 1994 - 2014. FIGURE 17 Direct and indirect employment in tourism in Gambia, 2014, 2015 and 2025. G 2201G 2211 G 244  §4 Opportunities for Gambia 51 Roughly half of the Dutch aid for development cooperation goes to Africa. The Netherlands does not donate money to Gambia, but to international organizations such as the UN. Part of that money is spent on development projects in Gambia. Humanity School of Learning Fabakari Saidykhan grew up in a poor family in a village in Gambia. His parents could not pay for his schooling. So he worked hard to earn money. If he had worked for one year, he could go to school for one year. This is how he finished his schooling in eight years. Then he was lucky to get a grant to study in Germany. After his stay in Germany, he came back to Gambia. He wanted to help his own country. Using his small savings and donations from the Nether­ lands, he-builtthe Humanity School of Learning with Migrant workers help from volunteers. The children who attend his school come from poor families. In addition to education, they ► Another source of income for Gambia is money that also receive a meal every day. With the help of a Dutch Gambians who work abroad send home. It is estimated that 5% company, Fabakari is now putting in a vegetable garden. of Gambians work outside the country. The majority of these He will use it to continue giving his pupils lunch. Any migrant workers live in Senegal, Nigeria, the United States and produce that is left over he sells at the market. This makes the United Kingdom. Often these people are in highly skilled his school less dependent on donations from other professions, like doctors and nurses (Figure 18). countries. When highly educated people leave a (developing) country to work abroad it's called a brain drain. The brain drain has both a positive and a negative side. Because highly skilled people leave, a shortage can develop in the country of origin. But those who move to other countries can usually earn a much higher income. The majority of migrants are young. Unemployment is high among this age group. Nearly half of young people aged between 15 and 25 don't have a job. In order to pay for the trip to Europe, they sell whatever they own, leave their friends and family behind, and attempt to cross the life-threatening Sahara and Mediterranean Sea, which takes many lives. They often know little about Europe but have the idea that they will find work here. Fabakari Saidykhan. Development cooperation ► Richer countries help Gambia improve the living conditions in the country. We call this development aid. In the past, richer countries often sent money, food, machinery and doctors. They also built schools and hospitals. In those days, rich countries decided flow best to solve Gambia's problems. Today, rich and poor countries work together as equal partners. Gambia makes its own development plans and rich countries give support by providing advice and money. This is known as development cooperation. Gambia gets support from different sources. The governments of rich countries support the Gambian government with money. But these donor countries are cautious, First day of school in school uniform. they don't just give money to fragile states. FIGURE 19 52 3 | Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa Images of Africa Gambia is just one of almost sixty countries on the African continent. The nature and culture of these countries are very diverse. FIGURE 20 FIGURE 23 Q §5 I Images of Africa 53 Maartens College Voorburg 54 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa A different approach No two countries are the same! There are considerable differences in the level of development in African countries. Compare Gambia with three other African countries.  A different approach No two countries are the same! Country market in Madagascar. SOURCE Leather workshop in Marrakesh, Morocco. SOURCE 9 56 3 Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa Choose your assignment A Country puzzle In Source 11 you see the shapes often countries. These countries are all located in Africa. Find out which countries they are and the name of their capitals. Use the atlas. SOURCE 11 Ten countries in Africa. B A trip through Gambia Make a route for a trip through Gambia. In Sources 12 and 13 are a couple of examples of what there is to see in terms of nature and culture. Word game Working in groups, test each other on the terms in this chapter. Play against each other. The person who loses, treats the other people in the group! SOURCE 14 Play the game in a group.  A different approach ; Choose your assignment 57 D Fixing up shanty towns In Sources 15 and 16 you see pictures of two shanty towns in Banjul. You can see that living conditions in these areas are not good. The residents want to fix up the area. But how can they do this if they don't have much money? 58 3 | Gambia: the smiling coast of Africa Finish Terms you should know Gross National Product (GNP) The money that all the people in a country earn together. artificial border indirect employment A border created by people. Extra work that results from a particular industry (such as agriculture tourism) for businesses outside that industry. Keeping livestock and growing crops for human use. infant mortality rate basic needs The average number of children per thousand births who Things that everyone needs for a reasonable quality of life die before their first birthday. (such as food, shelter, education and healthcare). informal sector birth rate Part of the service sectorthat is often unskilled and poorly Average number of births per 1,000 people per year. paid. brain drain infrastructure When highly educated people leave their country of origin Everything needed to transport people, goods and and move abroad. information. climate level of development The average weather in a region over a period of thirty to The level of prosperity or poverty in a country. forty years. life expectancy climate chart The average number of years a person is expected to live Chart that shows the average temperature and precipitation at a certain age. in an area. literacy rate colony Percentage of the population older than 15 who can read Overseas region that is governed by another country and write. (usually a European country). mangrove culture Tree that grows in salt water along tropical coasts. The beliefs and customs people learn as they grow up. mass tourism death rate When huge numbers of tourists all visit the same place. Average number of deaths per 1,000 people per year. migrant worker deforestation Someone who leaves the area they live in to find work or Clearing forests by chopping down the trees there. earn more money. delta monoculture Area at the mouth of a river where the main river splits into Growing only one type of crop. many smaller rivers. multicultural society desertification Society that is home to people from many different cultures. When previously usable land turns into a desert. development aid Help provided to poor countries to improve living conditions. development cooperation Cooperation between rich and poor countries to help improve living conditions. development indicator Tool for measuring prosperity and poverty in a country or region. direct employment Jobs that are directly linked to a particular activity or industry. donor country Country that provides development aid. emergency aid Help for people who have suffered a famine or natural disaster. ethnic group Group of people from the same culture who live together, sometimes in a different country. fragile state Country where the government does not function effectively.  Finish 59 natural border push factor A border created by a natural obstacle such as a river or Reason to move away from a particular region. a mountain range. savannah nature worship Landscape in the tropics with tall grass and clusters of Belief that the natural world is full of spirits, both good trees and shrubs. and evil. seasonal work nomads Work that is needed only at a certain time of year. People who move from place to place and have no secondary sector permanent home. Economic sector which processes products from the overgrazing primary sector. Keeping more livestock than the natural vegetation in an self-sufficient area can support. Able to produce enough resources to meet your own physician density needs. Number of doctors per thousand inhabitants. state plantation An area with clear borders and its own government Land where an agricultural company grows a single crop (sovereign state). (monoculture) on a large scale. structural aid population characteristics Help that supports a country in the long term. Characteristics that describe the people living in an area. tertiary sector population cluster Economic sector made up of all businesses that provide When many people live in the same area. services, especially commercial services. population density tourism The average number of people per square kilometre (km2). Travelling to and staying in a place that is not your home. population distribution A tourist is a person who stays in another place for at least How the people are spread across a country or region. 24 hours but no longer than one year. primary sector tourism industry Economic sector in which products are taken straight from All the people and businesses that work in tourism. nature. tropics pull factor Warm climate zone near the equator between 231/2°N and Reason that makes another region attractive to migrants. 231/2°S. purchasing power urbanization The amount of goods or services that you can buy with your Increase in the percentage of the population that lives in money. cities caused by migration from rural to urban areas. FIGURE 33 -. PREPR1B» « COMfEBENCE CW£.JI NOW IN TOWN! SS» National GSM Op ¥»»T BOROM