Somalia is home to a wide variety of food crops cultivated primarily by smallholder farmers. Common crops include sorghum, cowpeas, sesame, maize, bananas, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, spinach, and watermelons, which form a key part of local diets. Traditionally, farmers have relied on basic preservation techniques such as sun-drying to minimize post-harvest losses and maintain food availability. However, these methods are often labour-intensive and expose food to contamination and pest infestation.
These farmers continue to face severe challenges from climate change, including recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, and flash floods that destroy crops and wash away farmland and livestock, undermining household food security. Between July and September 2025, 624,000 people in Somalia faced Emergency IPC Phase 4 food insecurity, while over 2.8 million were in Crisis IPC Phase 3, according to the IPC Partnership report. These repeated shocks, compounded by resource-based and clan conflicts, have forced many smallholder farmers to abandon their farms, leaving communities increasingly dependent on humanitarian aid and weakening local food systems.
To support smallholder farmers, improve food security, strengthen livelihoods, and reduce dependence on food aid, while promoting peaceful coexistence, Nomadic Assistance for Peace and Development (NAPAD), in partnership with Terre des Hommes (TDH) and with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented a project to strengthen the resilience of conflict-affected agro-pastoral and host communities, directly benefiting more than 2,100 farmers across Somalia and Mandera County, Kenya.
NAPAD implemented climate-smart agriculture interventions aimed at strengthening agricultural productivity sustainably for food security and improving farmers’ incomes. Three riverine villages of Surguduud, Malkariye, and Qurdubey benefited from the installation of a solar-powered water pumping system used for irrigation. Farmers were then trained and supported to implement the various practices of climate-smart agriculture that include conservation agriculture, water management, agroforestry, integrated pest management, soil nutrient management, and post-harvest management. Tree nurseries were constructed in the three villages, and a variety of trees, including neem, moringa, acacia, eucalyptus, Leucaena, mango, pawpaw, and lemon tree seedlings, were later transplanted along riverbanks and surrounding the farms to prevent soil erosion and act as windbreakers. Farmers were also provided with climate-resilient seed varieties, among other farm inputs to boost their farming activities. In addition to extension services, farmer field days were conducted quarterly to engage farmers from the different locations actively, as they could share ideas amongst each other and also get local solutions for their challenges from experienced agronomists. These interventions motivated farmers to continue farming as they could see benefits of improved food security and increased incomes from the sales of surplus.
A major milestone in the project was the establishment of a value addition centre in Dollow district, Gedo region. The center aims to reduce post-harvest losses among farmers and bridge the gap between farm produce and consumer markets. A baseline survey conducted at the start of the project showed that farmers lose nearly 30% of their produce as post-harvest losses, which are a result of factors such as lack of ready markets, inadequate knowledge and facilities for preservation, poor roads, and lack of knowledge in value addition.
The centre comprises a space to store the raw material safely, a preparation section, wet & dry processing sections, a finished products and packaging material storage section, and a laboratory. It has a reliable solar-powered power supply system that ensures all operations run smoothly without power failures. The centre specializes in the value addition of locally grown cereals, fruits & vegetables, and sesame from the farmers, transforming these raw materials into high-quality, packaged products such as fortified nutrient-dense porridge flour under the brand Damac, all-natural sesame oil, wholesome fruit juices, fruit jams, and fruit leathers.
The nutrient-dense porridge flour is made from a combination of maize, sorghum, and bananas and then fortified with zinc, iron, and vitamins A and B. to address nutritional deficiencies, particularly among displaced vulnerable households who rely largely on carbohydrate-based diets with limited protein and critical micronutrients. In one of the product exhibitions, conducted in a local primary school to enlighten the community about the product, students, teachers, and members of the community were made aware of the importance of proper nutrition for a healthy lifestyle. Porridge was prepared and shared with the attendees, who later received a few packets of samples of the flour to incorporate in their diets. The flour is distributed in the retail shops at subsidized prices to improve community access.
Through these interventions, postharvest losses were reported to reduce from 30% to 20% after an endline assessment was conducted at the end of the project, with the expectation of the rates to reduce further as the practices are fully embraced. The average cultivated land has grown from 0.5 acres to 1.5 acres per farmer. The value addition centre has also become a place of learning, as NAPAD’s assessments showed that 98% of farmers in Dollow applied knowledge gained from regular training sessions, contributing to improved food production and income generation.
NAPAD and its partners continue to support communities in Gedo region in strengthening their resilience, local food systems, increased food security and nutrition, and a deeper understanding of climate-smart agriculture.