The clouds above many parts of The Gambia have been full of promises of cloudbursts since the onset of this year’s rainy season around mid-June, but some Gambians have now become concerned about the prospect of a failed rain.
Reports reaching JollofNews from several parts of the country intimated that the rainfall this year has so far remained erratic.
The indications above the sky continues to be encouraging as the clouds most of the time appear pregnant with water, but the amount of water that the sky has been letting has not been encouraging to many.
According to reports, the rainfall in many parts of the country has been far and few in between.
Sources informed JollofNews that the government is currently assessing the situation.
“It’s too early to declare a drought now, but experts are still assessing the situation and it’s for them to say whether the rain is failing or not,” a government official, who wished not to be named, told JollofNews.
Meanwhile, The Gambia pays drought insurance to the Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) with groundnuts as the model crop, but short and long dry spells such as the one groundnut farmers are currently experiencing are not sufficient for the farmers to receive payouts, even though the dry spells significantly affect yields in negative ways.
