Enhancing Climate Resilience of the Vulnerable Communities and Ecosystems in Somalia

Introduction

Approximately 70 percent of Somalis are dependent on climate-sensitive agriculture and pastoralism. As floods and droughts become more severe and frequent in Somalia, there is a need to find approaches that can reduce the sensitivity of farmers and pastoralists to increasing rainfall variability. With natural resource degradation also rampant throughout Somalia, most notably for the production of charcoal, Somalia is becoming increasingly vulnerable to conflicts over scarce resources.

Climate change and resource scarcity are exacerbated by the absence of policies on land-use and disaster risk management at the national level. At local levels, communities lack the financial, technical and informational resources needed to build their resilience to climate change as well as the knowledge of how to prepare for extreme weather impacts. Women especially in rural areas are one of the most vulnerable groups in Somalia. Within the women-headed households, women are traditionally responsible for growing food, gathering fuel and water, cooking, and raising children. The division of labour, along with unequal access to both material and non-material resources, and diminished participation for women in decision-making in political and private spheres increases their vulnerability against the impacts of climate change.

With financing from the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) Least Developed Country Countries Fund, this project (2014-2022) - implemented in the semi-autonomous states of South West State, Galmudug State, Puntland, and Somaliland, which unilaterally declared itself an independent republic in 1991 - focused on bolstering the resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems to climate change. The project sought to respond to the adverse impacts of climate change and improve the adaptive capacity of vulnerable farmers in pilot areas and the ecosystems on which they depend.