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The four-year Food and Nutrition Security Resilience Program (FNS-REPRO) has been funded by the Dutch government through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) since 2019. Impact “Relationship between conflict and food insecurity in the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Sudan (Darfur) and Somaliland. The multi-year livelihood and resilience-based approach is intended to enable the FAO and its partners to set examples of building resilience in food systems in long-term crises that were previously considered emergency areas. In addition to the analysis carried out during the development of the proposal, another in-depth context and value chain analysis was required during the initial phase of FNS-REPRO to inform the area-based intervention in each target area. The main purpose of the in-depth analysis was to identify the multidisciplinary and multidimensional nature of the threats and risks to the livelihood of communities and livelihood strategies (represented by the value chains), as well as the opportunities that have enabled these communities to withstand the risks , to identify; and even if they have succumbed to return to or above their previous (pre-risk) livelihood and livelihood strategy positions. This report discusses the recently completed Somaliland contextual analysis study, validated by field participants and Somaliland government officials, as well as donor recommendations and the results of the two field missions conducted by FAO staff between August and September 2020.
The analysis was carried out by teams from the FAO Mission in Somalia, including experts from the Livestock, Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) 1 and Food Security and Nutrition Analysis (FSNAU) 2 sectors. The teams were supported by two advisors – an international gender adviser who led the analysis and a national conflict adviser with a thorough understanding of the conflict contexts in Greater Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland.
Mainly qualitative and some quantitative data were collected from young (under 35 years) and older (over 35 years) men and women from six villages in the Sool region and two in the Sanaag region.
Sanaag and Xudun in Sool were largely inaccessible as the already poor roads were made impassable by heavy rainfall in the weeks leading up to the study in December 2019. RIMA baseline results will provide the missing information on the villages of Ceelcade and Sincaro (Sanaag). and Lafweyn in Xudun (Sool).
Secondary data were collected through a review of published and gray literature, while primary data were collected through gender-specific focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews (KIIs), and detailed one-on-one interviews (IIIs). The data was entered into Excel workbooks, from which qualitative data were analyzed inductively and quantitative data with descriptive statistics. The initial results have been validated with selected representatives of the surveyed community members, representatives of local leaders and government officials at the national level.
The results showed that both Sool and Sanaag show different degrees of conflict, which the respondents linked to the fragility of the state of Somaliland, which is characterized by tensions between and within the clans; Environmental degradation; Shepherds’ poverty and hardship due to the three-year drought that ended in 2019; and poor rural road, health and educational infrastructure. Despite these difficulties, Sool and Sanaag are economically active areas where sheep, goats and camels are raised for domestic and international consumption via Burco’s main mainland markets and the ports of Barbera and Bossasso. Much of Sool and Sanaag is a mix of savanna grassland, bushland, and woodland, but forests are rapidly declining.
The trade in feed in varying quantities takes place in all the villages visited, except in Balanbal in Sanaag, where the respondents stated that they do not mow grass and have a pasture control system. The smallholders questioned during the validation workshop could not provide any information that is necessary for the analysis of the monetary costs and advantages of the feed value chain. This can be explained by the fact that they most likely do not have the skills necessary to conduct cost-benefit analyzes or other business management skills.
It found that gender stereotypes were high in the community and women were forced to sell small quantities of goods such as tea, khat, milk, meat, grains, sugar and feed in local, low-volume markets with low profit margins while men mainly sold cattle in large numbers and forage in large quantities in remote markets that are large and lucrative. In addition, women had more limited access to credit, income and health care facilities than men.
Below is a summary of the recommendations based on the data analysis. A detailed description of these and other recommendations can be found in Chapter 5 of this report.
