Crop and livestock value chains in Somalia

Somalia’s and Yemen’s agriculture sectors face tremendous challenges associated with the increasingly fragile and degraded natural environment and with more frequent and extreme cycles of drought and floods due to intensifying climate change. In Somalia, the long civil war resulted in an extreme lack of security. The continuing insecurity combined with weak government institutions and the lack of research and extension services has led to the deterioration of the flood control, irrigation, and transport infrastructures. Despite the tremendous challenges faced over the past three decades—and those that loom ahead—the livestock and crop subsectors remain the main sources of economic activity, employment, and exports for Somalia. They are therefore critical to its economic recovery and long-term development.

The Food Security in Fragile Situations project aims to increase the income of rural communities through the improvement of agricultural production, mainly concentrated on the production of dates, and livestock for the sale of milk and meat. ENV is lending its expertise for the capitalization of knowledge and evaluation of the project in Puntland, Somalia.