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ARAB STATES
SOMALIA
SPOTLIGHT
Sustaining Livelihoods through Drought Mitigation 1
From 2000 to 2004, Somalia experienced near complete
rain failure, prolonging a dry spell that has eroded the traditional
coping mechanisms of the predominantly pastoral
population. The people of Somalia and the semiautonomous
region of Puntland in the northeast were particularly
hard hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in late 2004. Toxic
materials brought ashore by the waves led to export bans on livestock and marine
products, exacerbating an already precarious situation.
KENYA
DJIBOUTI
ETHIOPIA
YEMEN
Merca
Kismayu
Berbera
Hargeisa
Gulf of Aden
SOMALIA
Mogadishu
Indian
Ocean
In the wake of these events, UNDP’s Drylands Development Centre, together with other partners, created the new Drought
Mitigation and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme, which began on June 1, 2005. Funding of US$ 4.8 million has been provided
for the initial phase of this programme, through UNDP core resources and cost sharing, and will run until 2008. The programme’s
overall objective is to enhance the pastoral livelihood opportunities affected by the drought, and contribute to food
security and increased capacity to cope with future drought situations. The programme will employ NGOs
and other UN specialised agencies such as the FAO, ILO, and World Food Programme to ensure the
achievement of the programme’s specific goals, including improvement of water availability and grazing
resources, improved livestock health, and an increase in household incomes. In addition, a strong
focus of the project will be the diversification of rural economic opportunities through the development
of alternative income-generating activities for women, internally displaced persons, returnees
and those falling out of the pastoral livelihood system.
The programme takes an integrated rural development approach, addressing livelihoods and drought
mitigation challenges through control and governance of capital and natural resources, facilitating capital
and economic opportunities, and improving capacities for sustainable and productive use of land resources.
Together, these efforts will help sustain traditional pastoralism in Somalis, while mitigating future drought catastrophes.
LAND
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP and Co-Finance: $4,800,000
Total MPU and Bilateral: $15,000
Total: $4,815,000
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