Somaliland: Strategies and Goals
Implement integrated and nutrition sensitive interventions to ensure that zero hunger is reached by 2030 where we work
Somaliland is a de-facto state in the Horn of Africa that officially declared independence from neighbouring Somalia in 1991. While the state lacks official international recognition, the population of around 3.5 million has experienced relative political and economic stability since independence. However, food insecurity remains prevalent in many regions of the country and the World Bank estimates that 38% of the rural population in Somaliland are living in poverty. The situation was exacerbated for many communities by a major drought in 2015 and 2016, which caused more than 176,000 people to flee their homes to other parts of the country to try and secure their livelihood.
Facts and Figures
Sectors of Intervention
Welthungerhilfe addresses the immediate challenges people face by providing emergency relief but also works for long-term change by addressing underlying causes of poverty and hunger. This includes improving resilience and disaster preparedness of communities to reduce the risk of future disasters. Welthungerhilfe’s projects target particularly vulnerable groups such as small-scale farmers, agro-pastoralists, internally displaced people and women and children.
Agriculture and Environment
- Welthungerhilfe is working to increase the resilience and food and nutrition security of around 10,000 households in the Awdal region of Somaliland with funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). As part of the project, gravity irrigation systems are developed and farmer irrigation committees are trained to ensure their upkeep.
- To increase the food and nutrition security of vulnerable households, Welthungerhilfe and its partners are promoting increased agricultural diversity among small-scale farmers through training with a special focus on supporting female farmers.
Humanitarian Assistance
Welthungerhilfe is providing lifesaving support to drought affected agro-pastoralist communities in rural Somaliland by providing emergency cash transfers, cash for work programmes for soil conservation and vaccinating pastoralists’ livestock. With funding from ECHO the capacity of communities to reduce the impact of future crises is also increased by training community disaster management committees.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
To increase mobile agro-pastoralist communities’ access to clean drinking water in the Adwal region, Welthungerhilfe and its partners are working with communities and local government to plan and build water infrastructure that suits their needs, provide training to committees to support the new infrastructure and increase awareness about health and sanitation issues in communities and schools.
