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Abstract

Climate change, environmental degradation, and institutional barriers continue to undermine the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers in The Gambia. As these challenges intensify, there is growing recognition among policymakers, development practitioners, and researchers of the need to strengthen climate resilience as a foundation for sustainable agriculture. This thesis investigates how institutional, household, and ecological resilience alongside climate-resilient agricultural practices shape food security outcomes among smallholder farmers in the Central River Region (CRR). Using the Farmer Managed Rice Irrigation Project (FMRIP) as a case study, the research employs a mixed-methods approach to explore the differentiated impacts of resilience-building interventions. Data was collected through surveys and semi-structured interviews with 430 smallholder farmers, comprising both project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) reveals distinct patterns between the two groups. A surprising finding is that different constructs were more important for different groups: among beneficiaries, institutional resilience (β = 0.38*) and climate-resilient agricultural practices (β = 0.35**) were the strongest predictors of food security, while for non-beneficiaries, household resilience (β = 0.67**) and ecological resilience (β = 0.58***) had the most decisive influence. This contrast highlights the role of structured project support in enabling access to resources, services, and training, while showing how unsupported households rely on internal and ecological coping mechanisms. In addition, beneficiaries reported more frequent use of adaptive practices, including rainwater harvesting, seed saving, and crop diversification. Qualitative findings further support the quantitative results, illustrating how access to extension services, institutional support, and irrigation infrastructure enables beneficiaries to withstand climate variability better. Non-beneficiaries, however, described heightened vulnerability due to limited access to these systems, often resulting in lower harvest reliability and greater economic strain. Taken together, these findings underscore the crucial role that structured resilience initiatives, such as FMRIP, play in enhancing adaptive capacity and improving food security in climate-sensitive regions. To ensure equitable outcomes, scaling and replicating territorially embedded support systems are essential for reaching the broader population of vulnerable farming households across The Gambia.