Global Climate Change is one of the dire challenges facing the international community today. Coastal zones are vulnerable to its impacts. An effective approach with long-term prospects in addressing climate change impacts is it’s mainstreaming into development agenda of sectoral policies. A comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment is a pre-requisite to ensure that the right adaptive response is taken for effective integration into developmental plans. The objective of this study is to evaluate and prioritize risks, vulnerability and adaptation issues of current and anticipated impacts of climate change on the coastal zone of The Gambia. The study will also give a methodological contribution for assessing risks, vulnerability and adaptation from the sub-national to local levels. The relevance of this study will be to create a link between the sub-national and local levels in order to facilitate the integration and mainstreaming of climate change into sectoral and local policies for more climate-resilient communities. This will aid in the promotion of strategic investment of constrained developmental resources to actualize successfully dynamic coping strategies, elude ‘maladaptation’ and less compelling responsive measures. A purposive expert sampling technique was used in selecting respondents for the study. The findings of the study reveal that by the end of the 21st century, the climatic variables likely to have the highest impact on the coastal zone of The Gambia are ‘increased flood severity’ and ‘increased temperature’. The coastal zone of The Gambia showed a high vulnerability to these climate change variables. The suggested adaptive response in addressing the impacts of increased flood intensity in the study area includes; improving regulations for restricting agriculture and livestock grazing activities to improve land cover; strengthening of early-warning systems, among others. The suggested adaptive response in addressing the increase in temperature includes: increase crop diversification and rotation to reduce total crop failure; switching to drought-tolerant crop and animal species, among others.

The coastal zone of The Gambia, which contributes 36% to the country’s GDP, has experienced considerable transformation due to increased socioeconomic development and urbanisation. This growth has significantly altered the coastal landscape, intensifying pressure on the environment and increasing vulnerability to climate hazards. A study used cloud-free Landsat imagery from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 for assessing land use and land cover (LULC) changes and population growth. The analysis classified LULC into five categories: barren land, built-up areas, vegetation cover, water bodies, and wetlands. The findings highlighted dramatic changes in LULC over the past three decades. Barren land increased by 46%, and built-up areas surged by 680%. In contrast, vegetation cover decreased by 35%, water bodies by 31%, and wetlands by 14%. These transformations correlate with rising population densities along the coastline, particularly within 10–25 km of the shore. The substantial growth in built-up areas and reduction in vegetation are directly linked to urbanisation and population pressure. This rapid change exacerbates the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather events such as flooding and tropical windstorms. To address these challenges, it is crucial for the government and stakeholders to implement policies that manage coastal congestion and encourage development in inland regions. Such measures should consider the impacts of population growth on coastal environments and aim to ensure the long-term sustainability of The Gambia’s coastal ecosystems by mitigating risks associated with climate change.

The coastal zone of The Gambia, which contributes 36% to the country’s GDP, has experienced considerable transformation due to increased socioeconomic development and urbanization. This growth has significantly altered the coastal landscape, intensifying pressure on the environment and increasing vulnerability to climate hazards. A study assessing land cover changes and population growth used cloud-free Landsat imagery from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. The analysis classified land cover into five categories: barren land, built-up areas, vegetation cover, water bodies, and wetlands. The findings highlighted dramatic changes in land cover over the past three decades. Barren land increased by 46%, and built-up areas surged by 680%. In contrast, vegetation cover decreased by 35%, water bodies by 31%, and wetlands by 14%. These transformations correlate with rising population densities along the coastline, particularly within 10-25 km of the shore. The substantial growth in built-up areas and reduction in vegetation are directly linked to urbanization and population pressure. This rapid change exacerbates the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate-related hazards such as flooding and tropical windstorms. To address these challenges, it is crucial for the government and stakeholders to implement policies that manage coastal congestion and encourage development in inland regions. Such measures should consider the impacts of population growth on coastal environments and aim to ensure the long-term sustainability of The Gambia’s coastal ecosystems by mitigating risks associated with climate change.

Despite the scale-up of intervention, malaria remains a burden in the Upper River Region of The Gambia. Climate changes and non-climatic conditions can substantially influence malaria prevalence, and further affect the coverage of preventive interventions. This work aimed at exploring the different climatic and non-climatic risk factors associated with malaria. A descriptive research method using a parallel mixed method approach was adopted. Using a multistage approach, 381 households were selected from the region, and primary data was collected from household heads. Descriptive statistics were performed using StataSE18, and the significant influence of environmental and socioeconomic factors was analyzed using Chi-square (Χ2). Thematic analysis for the qualitative part was carried out using Nvivo. Malaria is heavily influenced by rainfalls, floods, and some of the measured non-climatic factors. These results will provide individuals, professionals, government, and policymakers valuable information for better-targeting malaria control efforts.