Somalia’s lucrative livestock, agriculture and fishery sectors are finally on a growth path, after years of stagnation, neglect and under-investment following two decades civil war.
A close look at the latest developments in the sector shows that the government is giving the sectors more attention, positioning them as mainstream economic growth drivers.
In a bid to eradicate extreme poverty, the Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) launched development programme targeting livestock keepers, farmers and fishermen with a view of financing the sectors and ensuring that the three sectors to bounce back on their feet.
The bank has set aside $2 million USD to be given out as loans to livestock farmers and fishermen in the country to boost productivity.
The move will see the money advanced to farmers through dairy, meat and fish co-operatives.
“As poverty reduction & financial inclusion measures, the CBS disbursed around $2m to Somali commercial banks. The money is intended as small loans to poor people in farming, livestock, fishery sectors & small businesses for economic self-sufficiency and a balanced economic growth,” CBS said in a statement posted on its official Twitter Account.
The sectors have been operating underfunding for a long time leading the productivity of the sectors to fall below the average.
After Somali central government collapsed in 1990, the support of the cooperatives and governmental parastatals was lost forcing the farmers, pastoralists and fishermen struggling their own with little production.
The country’s two main rivers have been causing floods and crop destruction during the seasons for years as there were no measures to avert the current floods.
This year thousands of families in several regions in the country were displaced by flood after Jubba and Shabelle river breached their banks leading to a dire humanitarian crisis in the country.
The floods also swept away thousands of hectares of crops and bring the country on brink of food security.
The country’s marine is also facing overfishing imposed by illegal foreign trawlers and ship.
Somali government which once possessed formidable marine force is struggling to rebuild its coastal guards.
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