The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) on Thursday, launched a flagship project to boost the resilience and climate adaptation agenda among rural communities in Somalia.
FAO said the project, dubbed “Reducing communities’ vulnerability to drought and external shocks (Recover)”, intersects with existing humanitarian programming by offering vulnerable families a pathway from humanitarian dependency toward resilience.
Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO’s Representative in Somalia, said in a statement that what is currently being witnessed in Somalia is a cycle of climate shocks that trigger increasingly dire and prolonged humanitarian crises.
“We need to reorient our efforts toward making communities self-sufficient and able to withstand these shocks if we truly want to see Somalia exit this cycle of disasters,” Peterschmitt said.
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As part of the project, partners will collaborate to increase farmers’ access to equipment, develop their knowledge of climate-smart agriculture, boost income diversification, and enhance market access for almost 54,000 rural residents.
The assistance comes at a vital time for Somalia, which is in need of investments in longer-term measures across all productive sectors that aim to address the underlying causes of these recurrent crises after more than two years of drought.
FAO will carry out the initiative in coordination with the Somali government and the federal member states of Hirshabelle, South West, and Jubaland, all of which have a significant impact on the nation’s productivity and food security.
Story was adapted from Enviro News
