An Integrated Model of Waqf, Sadaqah and Takaful for Poverty Alleviation through Empowering Women Farmers in the Rural Gambia

Abstract

The agony of poverty on the globe is rather a perplexing one; despite the growth of global economies and advances in science and technology, yet over 700 million people is living in extreme poverty globally. Approximately 241 million are from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, with just 9 of the Low-Income countries accounting for more than 40%. Despite these interesting statistics on poverty, the OIC countries housed more than two-thirds of the
world’s energy resources and 40% of its natural resources and yet accounts for more than half of the countries under the Low Human Development Index (HDI). According to the World Bank estimates, the COVID-19 pandemic could push about 70-100 million people into extreme poverty. The pandemic is drastically changing the poverty dynamics globally with Sub Saharan African countries deem to be the most affected. The Gambia, a member of the OIC and Sub Saharan African, has 48% of her population living below the poverty line with an HDI ranking of 174 out of 189. The Gambia produces only half of the food it needs, with acute malnutrition at 10%, and 23% of children are stunted. As conventional policies have been deployed over the years to fight poverty, it is only fair to raise the curtains on the potentials of Islamic Social Financing that can also complement the global efforts in eradicating poverty. As a conceptual paper, this study employed qualitative methods to present the potentials of agricultural investment through a hybrid model of waqf, sadaqah, and takaful to aid women farmers of the rural Gambia in financing their agricultural activities.