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As Somalia faces a historic drought that is pushing millions of Somalis into acute food insecurity, Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), announced today at the forty-sixth session of IFAD’s Board of Governors. That the Fund would significantly strengthen its engagement in Somalia and resume direct investment. The non-payment of Somalia’s arrears had led to a suspension of investment for three decades. Somalia has just repaid its debt to IFAD thanks to the support of several Member States. Said on this Tuesday 4th February 2023.
“Today, the situation for millions of Somalis is heartbreaking,” said Alvaro Lario. “Five consecutive seasons of insufficient rainfall have devastated their lives and undermined their ability to cope, which has eroded over the years due to conflict, climate change, desert locust invasions, and most recently as food, fertilizer and fuel prices soar. We must now provide the humanitarian assistance needed to save lives. But laying the foundation for a better future today is just as important.”
He added: “Solutions exist. It is inhumane to let people go through recurring crises. We need to invest today in long-term solutions and that means in rural development.”
During a press conference, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia stressed the importance of IFAD’s renewed commitment: “This re-engagement is an opportunity for a new beginning for Somalia by providing an opportunity to address many food security priorities in the country,” he said. “IFAD’s re-engagement marks the beginning of the process of transition from humanitarian to development. It’s a great help, which opens a door, and other organizations will follow suit.”
Alvaro Lario announced IFAD’s readiness to immediately invest US$11.6 million and mobilize the remaining funds needed for a new US$50 million agricultural development project that will provide seeds, irrigation systems, agricultural and veterinary services, microfinance loans, training in climate-smart agriculture and climate change adaptation techniques to improve agricultural and pastoral production.
” We need to help small-scale farmers and pastoralists adapt to climate change and build resilience so they can cope with future shocks,” Lario said. ” They need funding and training.”
According to the Integrated Phase Classification analysis, 5.6 million Somalis are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, of which 214,000 are considered to be in disaster situations, due to unprecedented famine comparable in recent decades. According to the latest projections, around 8.3 million Somalis could experience high levels of acute food insecurity between April and June 2023. The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia aims to reach 7.6 million people in Somalia this year and prevent the deaths of 6.7 million of the most vulnerable people.
IFAD was able to renew its engagement in the country thanks to Belgium, Germany, Italy and Sweden, which enabled Somalia to repay its arrears to IFAD. These arrears have prevented Somalia from benefiting from IFAD’s concessional loans and grants since 1991, when Somalia’s civil war began.
” Germany’s clearance of Somalia’s arrears allows IFAD to resume its important role in supporting rural development and sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture in Somalia. We have taken this unusual bilateral decision to support Somalia’s efforts to address climate and economic shocks and to strengthen institutions and ownership in this time of crisis as well as create leverage to attract further financing for climate-smart agriculture,” said Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.
” The climate crisis is having a huge negative impact on agriculture and food production in the poorest countries and there is an urgent need to strengthen the resilience of rural populations in these countries,” said Ambassador Pierre-Emanuel De Bauw, Governor of Belgium to IFAD. ” Belgium is pleased to be one of the first countries to have contributed to the settlement of Somalia’s debt to IFAD, thus allowing it to benefit from financing from the Fund for the adaptation of small producers to climate change and the fight against land degradation.”
Despite arrears and the suspension of IFAD’s investments with its own resources, IFAD has actively mobilized donor grants and channelled these resources to rural development projects in the country. Since the early 90s, IFAD has channelled about US$40 million to Somalia. Two projects are currently underway.
A project in Puntland is helping pastoralists and pastoralists rehabilitate irrigation systems, improve animal health, use drip irrigation, restore degraded pastures and use solar energy. IFAD is also providing exceptional support to the country through its Crisis Response Initiative to help it cope with the impact of the war in Ukraine and meet urgent needs for seeds, fertilizers, goats, sheep, irrigation and renewable energy and to rehabilitate water sources, protecting the livelihoods of approximately 72,000 people.
