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Rural poverty approaches, policies and strategies in Somalia

Because of conflict and lack of a fully-functioning central government, public institutions at national level are virtually non-existent in Somalia. At present the country does not have a national strategy for reducing rural poverty.

Functioning administrations do exist at regional level in both Somaliland and Puntland. But they are limited in scope because of a lack of funds and they focus on a narrow range of issues such as security, education and health. In both regions there have been efforts to create an enabling environment and legal framework in which development organizations, both public and private, can work.

Somaliland and, to a lesser extent, Puntland have begun to develop policy documents regarding rural development issues. In Somaliland the Ministry of Pastoral Development and Environment has formulated a strategic plan and has produced documents on environmental policy, land resources tenure and agricultural land use. The Ministry of Water and Mineral Resources has issued a Somaliland National Water Policy and Water Act. But external support is needed to help implement these policies and plans.

In the absence of a national poverty reduction strategy, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank (WB) Joint Needs Assessment of Somalia provides guidelines concerning the opportunities and challenges of rural development operations in the country. the guidelines address the development of livelihood opportunities in livestock and agricultural production.

Source: IFAD