Climate-resilient development for Somalia

The technical report “Climate-resilient development for Somalia” (2023, 80pp) by Manisha Gulati et al, published by the SPARC (Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises) programme, outlines ways that policymakers in Somalia can increase access to climate finance and better integrate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management.

Somalia’s economy is currently based primarily on pastoralism and agropastoralism. The country is described as highly vulnerable to climate change but receives little climate finance compared to other countries. The report examines the climate risks to water security for socio-economic development and compares the priorities of the government and development partners with regard to adaptation to climate change. The adaptation priorities identified in national climate and sectoral policies do not yet adequately address the range of climate risks to the country’s socio-economic development. Climate risks are being addressed in an ad-hoc manner and prioritise immediate- and short-term impacts and needs, rather than preparing for future shifts in temperature, extreme weather, rainfall and water supply or preparing for changes in livelihoods, water demand and urbanisation.

The report includes a warning about misplaced investments in the name of “climate resilience”, e.g. establishing more watering points that could create maladaptation for pastoralists if this encourages settlement in areas with unreliable and/or contaminated groundwater supplies. Drilling boreholes without understanding and monitoring groundwater tables could exacerbate depletions and create a situation in which a watering point seems “resilient” over the short term but could cause dependencies and localised desertification by the medium term (2041–60).

The authors identify several entry points that the Federal Government of Somalia can leverage to increase access to climate finance and begin a transition to climate-resilient development.

The full report can be found here and a one-page summary here – and on the SPARC website.

A related policy brief by SPARC is “Financing climate adaptation in fragile states: a case of Somalia” by Adriana Quevedo et al (2023, 15 pp).

Posted on 27 March 2024 in Pastoralism & Climate Change, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism, Policy & Power