Qatar Charity (QC) projects have enhanced food security in Somalia, along with more than 50 countries around the world, a statement said Sunday.
QC also invests in agricultural programmes and initiatives that enhance food production and support small farmers, 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 QC works to provide water and food to those affected through its various 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 spectre of famine, QC provided agricultural equipment, seeds, and tools to enhance and develop the capabilities in the field of agriculture for residents to secure harvests in the rainy season.
To provide food security, QC 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, QC 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, fertilisers, 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 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.
From the beginning of this year until July, QC implemented 50 water projects in Somalia's Harshabelle and Galmudug. These included drilling 50 wells, including 39 shallow wells and 11 deep wells with the aim of meeting the needs of local communities for potable water.
QC provided several water projects in cooperation with the Somali ministry of energy and water following the signing of a joint memorandum of understanding to cooperate in drilling water wells, constructing water storage stations, maintaining old wells, and installing modern pumps on them powered by solar energy to contribute to helping those affected by drought and recurring floods.
