The Senegambia Development Assistance Program, referred to as the DAP, is a five year program, carried out by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

CRS works with The Gambia Food and Nutrition Association (GAFNA) to implement the Safety net component of the DAP.

The program seeks to increase household food security for rural households in The Gambia by increasing economic access to food through the marketing of sesame and increasing the availability of food by providing targeted food aid to vulnerable groups.

The DAP safety net program is being currently implemented in the Central and Upper River regions of The Gambia. Institutional feeding programs are being conducted in selected Government health centres as well as to Charitable Organisations such as (St. Vincent de Paul Societies in Basse and Fullabantang, rural Support Organisation for the Disabled, Sisters of Charity and Santa Yalla Support Society in the Greater Banjul Area.)
The safety net program also provides a series of activities designed to increase the capacity of communities and institutions to reduce food insecurity. With increased knowledge and understanding of the effects of food insecurity, partners are better equipped to make sound decisions and take concrete steps to improve their food security situation.

Vulnerable groups targeted under this Safety net Program include: Malnourished Children, 6 months- 36 months, Persons being treated for tuberculosis; Persons Living with HIV / AIDS (PL WHA); Disabled persons; and Persons with extremely difficult circumstances including widows and elderly; Female single head of households; and orphans.

In light of the above, The community Food Security Analysis and Action Plans developed under the Safety net program has been an animal activity since 2004 and seeks to address the second objective of the DAP, which states: Increased food availability for vulnerable households in Senegal and The Gambia.

Thus, CRS and its implementing partner, GAFNA, over the years embarked on intensive community food security analysis and action plan development exercise across the entire length and breadth of the Northern part of Central River Region (CRR) as well as some communities in the Southern Region.

As part of its efforts to support implementation of Community Action Plans (CAP), CRS through USAID Food For Peace (FFP) through GAFNA is providing six hundred and fifty thousand dalasis (GMD 650,000) to 57 CAP villages in the Central River Region.

The CAP grant is a fund provided by USAID Food For Peace as part of the DAP Extension Program to help complement efforts of the communities that have undergone various phases of community food security analysis and action planning to address issues identified as critical to improving the communities food security situation.
The Communities were identified to benefit from the grant, based on the level of effort they have put to implement the action plans developed following the food security training and analysis exercise; their commitments to contribute (financially and in kind) to implement the subsequent activities of the CAP; the anticipated impact the project would have contributed to improving food security for members of the community; and the successful completion of a training session for key members of the VDC to enhance the proper management of the grant to achieve a sustainable impact.