Building Partnerships For Sustainable livelihoods and Improved lives

• General Nur Salad Street, Garowe -Puntland, Somalia
• Sat to Thu 08:00 - 16:30

Phone Number. +252-90-5053563

“WHEN ANIMALS MEAN LIFE “

Livestock production constitutes a very important component of the agricultural economy of Somali people, a contribution that goes beyond direct food production but rather closely linked to economic stability and sustainable living of the majority of the population. Therefore, you can’t talk about food security in Somalia without addressing challenges facing sustainable agriculture particularly sustainable livestock production. Livestock accounts for about 60% of employment opportunities and also generates 40% of GDP and 80% of foreign earnings (FAO, 2012). Nevertheless, the sector is hampered by cyclic droughts that destroy the rangeland conditions, limited veterinary extension services, weak regulatory frameworks, lack of policy development, low productivity levels due to the absence of any form of genetic improvement, the poor capacity of husbandry and veterinary training institutions.

Under livestock subsector value-chain development, we intend to work with the following program areas:

Feed and forage development

SARC will work with sustainable ways to safeguard and protect rangelands, enhance forage and hay production from native grasses by the provision of hands-on training on forage and hay preparation and piloting provision of salt-tolerant alternative animal forages.

Livestock genetic resources

Somali traditional livestock breeds are well adapted to the harsh geographical and climatic environment. Nevertheless, they are characterized by low milk yields and low weights. There is rarely any form of modern genetic improvement implemented which times lead larger and more productive animals being marketed for export or slaughter rather than using for breeding purposes. Many of the critical animal health and production services implemented through finances from donors rarely considered breeding and genetic improvement in their programs. Experiences from elsewhere in Africa like Ethiopia where chicken genetic improvement and community-based breeding schemes showed some promising results as regards to genetic improvement of livestock under harsh conditions. While genetic improvement is important, conservation of indigenous livestock genetic resources is crucial for meeting the current and the future needs of our communities. It is therefore very important that we safeguard the local livestock genetic resources by documenting and characterizing them as well as advocating the need for sustainable utilization and conservation of such precious resources. For instance, keeping traditional poultry breeds was once widespread among the poor households in the villages, but there has been a great decline in this and reason needs to be investigated. In contrast, Importation of exotic day-old chicks and eggs from overseas is on the rise for the last decade. This is due to increased demand for nutritious food and increased urbanization.

Animal health services

The objective of this program area is to significantly contribute to managing and eliminating animal diseases, food-borne diseases transmitted through animal products, and zoonotic diseases. Diseases are major obstacles for sustainable livestock production and therefore proper management of animal diseases will mean higher incomes for livestock owners and wholesome, safe and nutritious food for the public. Under this program, we intend to work :

• Strengthening public and private institutions for veterinary services delivery, for instance, refresher training and upgrading of skills and knowledge for veterinary extension workers such as Community based animal health workforces.
• Participatory approaches of disease control to enable public and private coordination and collaboration on Animal Health Service delivery, especially in the remote areas. 
• Early warning and response system for proper management of animal diseases and animal body conditions, especially during emergencies such as droughts.
• Control of foodborne and zoonotic disease in a One Health approach. Under this scheme, SARC will strive in studying and understanding the risk of neglected food-borne & zoonotic diseases in the Somali meat and milk value chains. Furthermore, the risk of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the livestock value chain is neglected and there is urgent need to increase awareness among the community and Somali livestock stakeholders on the potential risk of AMR spread along the livestock value chain

Sustainable Livestock production

Somali livestock production system is mainly nomadic pastoralism followed by the agropastoral system. Nevertheless, peri-urban dairy production largely with camels has been on the rise. Besides, Layer farms have also been established in the outskirts of many cities and there is generally greater interest among the diaspora and business people to invest animal husbandry. Cattle production is mainly concentrated in the south and North-western parts of the country. Cattle production in the North-eastern part has been on a decline and this could be due to recurrent droughts and scarcity of grasslands which forced many families to shift to more hardy and productive animals like shoats and camel. Sustainable livestock production program will address the interplay between society, environment and livestock to optimize the production and ultimately raise the income of poor farmers while maintaining environmental integrity. Furthermore, the program will work on innovation, knowledge transfer and capacity building along the livestock value chain, particularly meat, milk and skin and hides value chains. The program will also address the effect of climate and environmental shocks on the livestock production system. We also tend to work on building resilience among the livestock keepers through capacity building on production and economic aspects, through the provision of grants and novel approaches such as insurance systems.