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Abstract Introduction Understanding societal vulnerabilities to various shocks is crucial at global, country, and regional levels. In rural Gambia, assessing vulnerability becomes pivotal to comprehend weaknesses in infrastructure, food security, climate change, government, NGO support, education, and agricultural ownership. General Problem The article addresses the challenge of understanding vulnerability to climate change, aiming to provide insights into its complex nature and the need for targeted adaptation strategies. Objectives This body of work aims to integrate multiple dimensions of vulnerability, promote context-specific assessments, develop quantitative frameworks via validated vulnerability indices, offer policy-relevant insights, and enhance resilience and adaptation strategies in the face of climate change challenges. Method This study in rural Gambia utilized Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to construct a Vulnerability Index (VI) and components assessing vulnerabilities. We used excel to calculate vulnerability components and index from Stata results for PCA components part of eigenvector or score factor or coefficients. The regions used are North Bank Region (NBR), Central River Region (CRR) and Upper River Region (URR). Results The PCA revealed NBR, CRR, and URR as vulnerable to climate change, particularly highlighting NBR with vulnerability index of -6.3690 and CRR's with vulnerability index of -1.5587, heightened susceptibility. Despite URR showing relatively lower vulnerability in the VI of 1.5598, component analysis still highlighted vulnerability to climate changes. Overall, all regions indicated vulnerability to climate change. Furthermore, the validation of the Vulnerability Index indicated that NGO support significantly reduced vulnerability by 82%. Contrastingly, government aid increased vulnerability by 79%. Additionally, factors such as food access, insurance, credit availability, and agricultural support demonstrated substantial impacts on vulnerability to climate change. Conclusions and Recommendation The literature underscores the significance of comprehensive vulnerability assessments in understanding and addressing climate change challenges. It emphasizes the need for context-specific approaches, quantitative frameworks, and policy-informed strategies to build resilience and adapt to climate change impacts. Encourages further research focusing on nuanced context-specific vulnerability assessments, continued development and refinement of quantitative indices, and continued integration of interdisciplinary knowledge for informed decision-making and policy formulation.
Ceesay et al. (Mon,) studied this question.