Qatar Charity works to enhance food security in more than 50 countries around the world, as it considers that investing in agricultural development and food security is extremely important to quickly respond when crises occur to confront disasters, improve decent livelihoods, reduce poverty, and combat hunger and malnutrition. Qatar Charity also invests in Agricultural programs and initiatives that enhance food production and support small farmers, and this is in line with this year’s slogan for World Food Day “Water is Life, Water is Food, Leave No One Behind.”

Somalia is one of the countries suffering from major drought and food shortages, and Qatar Charity works to provide water and food to those affected through its various projects.

Agricultural projects

To improve the malnutrition situation in the drought-stricken city of Baidoa, southwest of Somalia, and to spare more than 8,000 people from the specter of famine, Qatar Charity provided agricultural equipment, seeds, and tools to enhance and develop the capabilities in the field of agriculture for residents who practice agriculture to secure harvests in the rainy season.

  To provide food security, Qatar Charity provides cash transfers to those in need for a period of three months to enable them to obtain food supplies and improve their living situation.

As for the governorates of Galjudud and Bay, Qatar Charity implemented a project to protect the property of rural families that benefited 6,000 people, providing them with agricultural equipment, seeds, and training to build their agricultural skills to qualify them to carry out the best agricultural practices. The two regions were chosen due to their damage from the desert locust disaster in 2020, which left dire effects in agricultural areas. Hundreds of hectares of seasonal agricultural crops were destroyed.

Agricultural equipment, such as seeds, fertilizers, and manual plowing tools, was distributed to 1,000 families in Galgadud and Bay governorates to secure rainy season harvests, and 150 farmers were trained to develop production.

The food security projects that were implemented in Somalia aim to contribute to reducing the dangers of locusts on agricultural and pastoral lands, preserving food stocks, and rehabilitating and building the capabilities of those affected, which will help them continue their activity and productivity, improve their living conditions, and contribute to providing food for them.