Two weeks ago I came back to Europe from my 6 months assignment with WFP in The Gambia. Starting with a debriefing programme at the HQ in Rome, my cultural reintegration process into ´modern´ life is (believe it or not) yet ongoing as I still struggle to digest the tons of emotions and impressions I went through in that period while simultaenously getting used to old habits and lifestyle.

From the beginning of December my free time is all about coaching a basketball team of 20-25 Gambian youth. In addition to such an exercise being a good opportunity to more easily challenge and overcome the cultural 'shock' theory and get to know the locals more closely, it also proves to be a valuable psychological experience and a welcome distraction from work life. Above all, it makes me realize how important indeed sport is for people's social and physical development, bringing with it many other developmental spin-offs, and how crucial in fact the role of nutritious food - hence WFP's presence in The Gambia - is in enabling that process, especially through school-feeding.

Tackling The Gambia’s Food Insecurity: Why (Gambian) Mangoes Matters a series of intellectually ground braking articles devoted to the multidimensional problem of food insecurity in The Gambia and the potential role of Mangoes in addressing it. It is based on regular findings from the field, general observations from work at the WFP country office and the usage of some common sense when thinking, out of the box, about this problem. In order to make the reading a more interactive exercise, with every following article millions of highly interested readers of this weblog section around the world will be regularly presented with some 'food for thought' on The Gambian food security situation. In the end it is aimed to stimulate in the open-minded corners of the planet some debate on the problem of world hunger and open the mind to the different facets of food (in)security. Enjoy with me this week with a chilly introduction.