Apply by
April 1, 2025
Know by
June 1, 2025
Depart on
October 4, 2025
Duration
1 year, plus 3 months training
Project description
This project is part of the 15-month Service Pilot. Volunteers serving under this pilot will serve for a total of 15 months including up to three months of Pre-service Training and may have the option of adding a second year to their service.
The Peace Corps enjoys a long and positive history with The Gambia. The first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in 1967, and since then more than 1,800 Volunteers have worked with Gambian men and women to build strong relationships and make a lasting impact on their communities.
Supporting Farmers/individuals To
By working alongside the people of The Gambia and The Gambia Ministry of Agriculture, Volunteers serving as Community Food Security and Nutrition Facilitators will have the opportunity to improve the food and nutrition security of farmers in rural communities. Core activities include:
- Improve agroforestry production management practices or technologies
- Encouraging the creation of tree nurseries and tree growing using improved techniques, and helping establish woodlots and orchards
- Improve crop cultivation management practices or technologies
- Promoting new and improved gardening and vegetable production techniques
- Improving the diversity, productivity, and/or sustainability of crop production.
- Improve small animal husbandry management practices or technologies
- Promoting and training farmers in poultry management
- Promoting and training farmers in beekeeping
- Improve post-harvest management practices or technologies
- Supporting women of reproduction age (WRA) and/or key household decision-makers to increase the dietary diversity of households
- Educating farmers and community groups on nutrition and nutrition-sensitive agricultural production
- Supporting individuals/groups to make sound decisions about the feasibility, management, and sustainably of their small-scale economic activities
- Collaborating with farmers on activities that generate agriculture-related income
The Gambia has a short rainy season (3-4 months) and a long dry season. Most traditional agricultural activities are done during the short rainy season. The project focuses on establishing and improving dry-season vegetable gardens and tree nurseries. Most farmers are highly skilled in field crop production but may have less experience with these dry season activities, so Volunteers have a unique opportunity to have a substantial impact by supporting community members to appreciate and practice these new techniques sustainably.
Malnutrition is common in The Gambia, especially among children and pregnant women. In addition to working with farmers to address this challenge by implementing nutrition-sensitive agricultural projects, Volunteers will work with mothers and children to improve nutrition education within their community, especially at the household level.
Climate change activities
As The Impacts Of Climate Change Become Ever More Evident, The Social, Economic, And Environmental Context Within Which Smallholder Farmers Seek To Maintain And Improve Their Livelihood And Support Their Families Will Continue To Change. This Will Add Significantly To The Challenges Of Smallholder Farming, Particularly For The Most Disadvantaged Communities. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, You Will Be Trained To Use a Participatory Approach And Tools To Identify Locally Determined Priorities And Conditions, Including Those Related To The Impacts Of Climate Change. As An Agriculture Volunteer, You Will Be Trained To Use This Local Knowledge In Engaging Smallholder Farmers In a Climate-smart Approach That
- promotes the adoption of improved, appropriate, and adaptive agricultural practices and technologies that sustainably increase productivity;
- builds and strengthens household resilience by integrating and diversifying existing and new agriculture-related income-generating opportunities; and
- reduces greenhouse gas emissions attributable to ineffective and carbon intensive farming practices and encourages adoption of agricultural practices and activities that sequester carbon.
Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have an expressed interest in working in agriculture and one or more of the following criteria:
- Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field
OR
- 5 years' professional work experience
Desired Skills
Preferred candidates should have experience, interest, and or passion in one or more of the following
- Gardening
- Tree nurseries and tree growing
- Beekeeping
- Environmental Education
- Subsistence farming
- Poultry Management
- Agroforestry
- Working with youth on agricultural activities and/or a Bachelor of Science degree or associate degree in Agronomy, Horticulture, or other related fields.
- Part-time of full-time farm experience.
Required Language Skills
There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position. While the official language of The Gambia is English, Volunteers are expected to learn the predominant local language of the village to which they will be assigned. Instruction in a local language will be provided during Pre-Service Training and additional language support will be available at your work site if needed. Most of the people Volunteers will work with may not speak English, so it is extremely important to understand and be able to communicate in the local language. Languages taught at Pre-Service Training are Pularr, Mandinka, Wollof, Jola, and Serrahulleh.
Living conditions
All Volunteers live in remote, rural communities, and will need to be flexible in housing expectations. You will live in simple, private quarters on the property of a host family for your entire service. Houses are situated on or near a family compound with other neighboring houses. You will have a private pit latrine and will likely need to fetch water from the village water source, up to 300 yards away. While your family compound may not have electricity available,
Peace Corps The Gambia provides an allowance for Volunteers to purchase a solar system to charge electronics (laptops, phones, tablets, etc.). Usually, this solar electricity can also power a standing fan for much of the day and night. You may need to walk or bike up to 3 miles to access public transportation and up to 6 miles to a larger town for shopping.
Communication between staff and Volunteers, as well as among Volunteers, is mainly by phone and text. You will receive a simple cell phone for local texting and calling on arrival if you do not bring your own. The Gambia is a small country. Contact between staff and Volunteers is high and this is appreciated by the Volunteer community. There are a few internet cafes in some of the larger towns, but access is slow, patchy, and depends on intermittent electricity. There is internet access at the Peace Corps office near the capital, the Peace Corps Training Center in Massembeh, and the PC office in the eastern part of the country.
Many vegetarians have managed to maintain a healthy diet here. However, as the supply and range of vegetables in the country is limited, this can present challenges and requires some flexibility. It is difficult for Volunteers to maintain a vegan diet throughout their service.
Please see The Gambia Living Conditions section of the website for information about:
- Communication
- Housing and site location
- Living Allowance and money management
- Food and diet
- Transportation
- Social activities
- Professionalism, dress, and behavior
Even with newfound democracy that emanated from the 2016 election, The Gambia still has some restrictive laws in law books that target certain sexual acts. Volunteers will need to be mindful of cultural norms and country-specific laws and use their best judgment to determine how to approach topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity in their communities and throughout the country. Staff and currently serving Volunteers will address this topic during Pre-Service Training and identify support mechanisms available for incoming trainees and Volunteers throughout service.
The influence of colonialism and other countries in The Gambia shapes perceptions Gambians may have of outsiders. Americans may be assumed to be wealthy. Black/African Americans may blend in and initially be seen as Gambians; people may assume that they know local languages and culture. Asian Americans may be confused as Chinese citizens working in The Gambia. Peace Corps staff are aware of many of the challenges faced by Volunteers and strive to find meaningful ways to support Volunteers in navigating the complexity of living and working in The Gambia. Additional information is available in the Navigating Identities in The Gambia sections of our website.
Learn more about the Volunteer experience in The Gambia: Get detailed information on culture, communications, housing, and health/crime statistics in order to make a well-informed decision about serving.
Medical considerations
Before you apply, please review medical clearance and legal clearance to learn about the process.
Couples information
The Gambia can accommodate couples within the same or different sectors. Your partner must qualify and apply for the Community Food Security and Nutrition Facilitator: Pilot or the Community Health Facilitator: Pilot position in The Gambia.
Couples will live and serve together in a common site that might be in either a larger community or in a village where one partner would focus work in a neighboring village. In the past, this arrangement has worked well especially when the going gets tough. Couples can motivate each other and supplement each other’s work in their respective communities and have been model Volunteers.
The Peace Corps works to foster safe and productive assignments for same-sex couples and same-sex couples are not placed in countries where homosexual acts are criminalized. Because of this, same-sex couple placements are more limited than heterosexual couple placements. During the application process recruiters and placement officers work closely with same-sex couple applicants to understand current placement opportunities. For more information please visit: https://www.peacecorps.gov/faqs/lgbtq/
