Greening Somalia

With funding from the GEF and support from UNDP, nature-based climate actions are building a climate-resilient future for the people of Puntland.

By UNDP Climate

September 7^th, 2021

Arabic

Climate change is having a profound impact across Somalia. More frequent droughts and flash-flooding bring soil erosion, crop failure and livestock deaths in a land where two out of three of the people depend on subsistence agriculture.

Across Somalia, climate change is altering the seasons, worsening natural disasters and triggering more extreme weather events. In 2017, after the rains failed for three seasons in a row, a severe drought caused widespread hunger, disease and livestock deaths and left over 6 million people food insecure.

With funding from the Global Environment Facility Least Developed Countries Fund (GEF) and support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the people of Somalia are adopting new climate-smart practices to adapt to these pressing challenges and build a climate-resilient pathway toward the future.

Drought-proofing Somalia’s rangelands

Dams built by the government with support and funding from UNDP and the GEF are providing water to camel herders and local communities when it’s needed most.

Puntland’s Shaxda village is especially prone to droughts. The village is mainly made up of camel herders and farmers, who are completely dependent on the rangelands and have struggled to access clean drinking water for their livestock and communities.

“Lack of water was a challenge before… I have lost a lot of camels,” says herder Mohamed Hirsi.

Camel herder, Mohamed Hirsi, beside the earth dam where his camels can now drink in the dry season. Photo: UNDP/Tobin Jones

Through the GEF-funded project supported by UNDP, Puntland’s Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Climate Change has constructed 10 new dams that provide camel herders, their livestock and the wider community with clean water.

The new earth dams have water troughs and elevated water tanks powered by solar power systems. These allow local communities to access clean water year-round and manage water shortages during dry seasons and droughts. Before the dams were built, communities relied on smaller wells and boreholes, which would often run dry.

Mohamed Hirsi hasn’t lost a single camel since the UNDP/GEF earth dam was built to provide water to local herders. Photo: UNDP/Tobin Jones

The site of the dam in Shaxda was chosen specifically because of its central location so that animals and people from all the surrounding regions can benefit from it.

“Water is given to those who need it. We serve the hospitals, all the schools and the poor people who live here," says Abdishakur Ise, Shaxda District Commissioner.

Across Somalia, UNDP’s water infrastructure projects have provided water to over 55,000 households since 2013. UNDP is also working with the government to improve policies and train officials so that this most precious of resources is better conserved in the years ahead.

Turning Puntland green

The project is also helping camel herders in Puntland to protect their land and livestock from soil erosion and flash floods.

“In the past, I used to own livestock but they died because of the droughts,” says Abdirahman Musa, one of many camel herders who are completely dependent on the rangelands in Puntland to support their families.

The rangelands near Abdirahman's home have also been damaged by deforestation. Trees are cut down to make charcoal and there are no roots left to hold the soil together and prevent desertification. In the end, the degraded land can’t retain water, resulting in biodiversity loss and worsening flash floods.

The project has constructed stone barricades that can stop erosion, stabilizing the land by keeping soil in place. These walls, which now span over twenty sites, have encouraged ecosystem restoration and reforestation, as new plants and trees can grow and remain protected.

The project makes sure that communities are engaged directly in planning, implementation and monitoring. For example, local people help decide where walls should be built and supervise contractors. Herders like Abdirahman Musa are also employed for some of the building work.

In addition to constructing stone barricades, UNDP has also set up small-scale community-led reforestation programmes to grow seedlings. These tree nurseries are managed by a community tree nursery committee that organizes the distribution of seedlings to local businesses and to neighboring camps for displaced people, who earn money from selling them. Seedlings are also distributed by the committee to schools and community groups to plant their own trees during the rainy seasons.