DOHA (The Southern African Times) – Qatar Fund for development (QFFD) signed an agreement with it strategic partner the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to help Somalia in building climate-resilience and take shock-informed anticipatory action.
Somalia is highly vulnerable to recurrent shocks, with colliding and cumulative effects. The country has been recurrently affected by droughts, flash and riverine flooding, cyclones, locusts, disease outbreaks, conflict, and subsequent large-scale. These shocks have led to continual disruption of livelihoods, increased vulnerability, and poverty, resulting in acute hunger and malnutrition.
“We gather all here today to witness the signing of urgent anticipatory action agreement. We trust that the initiative will support farming and pastoral communities at risk in advance to reduce threats within the marginalized groups. More to that, the call of anticipatory action will help deliver effective solutions that is estimated to assist 1,850 farming smallholders and respond to emergency agricultural livelihoods in advance.” said Deputy Director General of projects, Qatar Fund for Development, Misfer Al-Shahwani.
“FAO welcomes the commitment of the State of Qatar to support vulnerable farming communities in Somalia. Through this first ever partnership with the Qatar Fund for Development, we will work together to save and reinforce livelihoods and help families to anticipate shocks such as drought and prevent and control animal diseases by increasing and diversifying their food production and protecting their livestock – an essential source of food and income.” said FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol.
And to ease this dilemma QFFD with FAO is aiming thought this project to achieve the goal enhancing smallholder agriculture and livestock production through climate-resilient and shock-informed anticipatory action. This will serve as the objective of this project. It will include, maximizing and diversifying farmers production in anticipation of a drought, drought-related spread of animal disease is mitigated to protect household food security, nutrition, and income and lastly improving access to water to protect critical livelihood assets of pastoralist populations.
