A New Chapter for Somalia’s Drylands
What if Somalia’s drylands, long seen only as barren and fragile, could become the beating heart of resilience? For decades, Somalia’s rural dryland areas have been confronted the harsh reality of being barren and inhospitable for decades— a vast expanse of fragile ecosystems where rural families have frequently walked hours each day to fetch water, herders have lost their animals to drought, farmers have watched and struggled with cracked fields, and entire communities have been forced to leave their ancestral lands in search of survival. This fragility cycle has shaped daily life and global perceptions of Somalia. How is it possible to transform such a barren land into an oasis?

Yes today, a different story is emerging — one of renewal, strength and hope. At the heart of this socio-economic and ecological transformation is the Barwaaqo Project, a multi-million national initiative led by the Federal Government of Somalia in partnership with the Federal Member States, and financed by the World Bank.
Barwaaqo,” a Somali word meaning prosperity, carries an aspiration far greater than a single project. It reflects a shared vision: building lasting resilience, restoring dignity to rural life, and laying the groundwork for a more inclusive rural community development by providing water, restoring degraded lands, supporting agriculture and livestock, and empowering communities to lead their own development journeys.

By Dr. Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed (PhD), National Project Coordinator of the Barwaaqo Project.