Somaliland land management strengthens construction capacity

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Somaliland land management strengthens construction capacity - Infrastructure Global

Improving water and food security through land management and tackling erosion, is complicated. When it’s in Somaliland, it comes with an added challenge.

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Improving water and food security through land management and tackling erosion, is complicated. When it’s in Somaliland, it comes with an added challenge.​

Land management in the horn of Africa is vital to the resilience and wellbeing of local communities. It will become more so as climate change continues to worsen severe weather conditions. Land management in a country that isn’t a country, however, presents some big challenges.

Somaliland is not recognised by the international community as a nation state. This has often limited its ability to raise finance and benefit from international aid and investment. That in turn has left a legacy in Somaliland of limited skills and experience in significant projects. German firm CES has shown how some of those challenges can be overcome.

What is Sustainable Land Management in Somaliland

Sustainable Land Management in Somaliland is a project to save the Biji catchment area from erosion, and to improve rainwater harvesting and storage of water for drinking, food security and livestock. This catchment area links to aquifers that represent the main water resource for the region’s population, making recharge of these aquifers a vital aim.

With funding provided via the German Development Bank (KfW), CES drew up plans and delivered balleys and berkads for runoff retention, and sandstorage and subsurface dams for river flow storage.

These were delivered with six national construction companies in Somaliland, helping to build up capacity and experience with the delivery of 74 structures over three years.

Internationalising and localising capacity building

Along with a lack of development capacity in Somaliland, the project coincided with the pandemic – making it hard for people to travel and limiting the availability on site of the CES engineers behind the designs.

This led to rapid development of online management, and in turn, provided a new opportunity for capacity building within Somaliland as contractors adapted to remote leadership, which was supported by the Somaliland Ministry of Agricultural Development.

At the same time, to secure funding and support best practices across the project, KfW required the adoption of international standard contracts, and in particular, the FIDIC pink book. This approach to de-risking investment and supporting good legal standards in Somaliland has begun steps away from simple contract terms there that have often proved inadequate for international investors.

Additionally, for long term maintenance of the 74 structures created over three years, women in the region were appointed to “care” for each structure – supporting both the development of long term asset management and opportunities to improve gender equality in the region.

As a result, not only was the construction finished on time and at the required quality despite many challenges, but it has also achieved a remarkable strengthening of national construction capacity that should help support future projects.

This project is one of three winning Outstanding Projects of the Year as assessed by a panel of FIDIC experts. It was nominated by CES Consulting Engineers Salzgitter.

 

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Abdiwahid's farm protected from river erosion​

Steep green hills, the streams that run through them, verdant farms, and wells with water are what strikes you when first approaching Heego during the rainy season. But all is not as good it seems, for although Heego is only 25 kilometres from Borama in Awdal Region, the road is bumpy and rugged and land degradation is rampant.

Over time, the land around the village has been deteriorating due to gully erosion. The rain-fed and irrigated farms that line the banks of the seasonal rivers. have been losing land each year as sudden rains carry the soil away. Even the feeder roads connecting Heego to the major towns have been affected by the floods.

To begin to deal with the loss of productive land in the area, the Ministry of Agricultural Development launched the Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP) in Borama city in November 2021.This SDF-funded Project aims to improve the livelihoods, food security, and resilience of 20,000 people in the Durdur Ad Catchment area, which includes Heego, Dilla, Jaarahorato, and Bedembed villages. According to the ministry about 30% of Somaliland’s farmland is already considered to be highly degraded, and Heego is no exception.

"Our farm is located near the river that runs through Heego. In 2018, we lost approximately 100 metres of our farm in to the Sagar Cyclone and several more to rains that washed away the banks. We were worried that the entire farm would be washed away as the river's banks ate into the farm's side"

Abdiwahid Mohamed is one of the young farmers that has been inspired by the new project. After the death of his father, who managed the farm, he dropped out from school and contemplated leaving his village. But he then began farming on the land that had been left to him. His farm is one of the model farms that received watershed management assistance, including a 400-metre river bank protection wall built from local stone. Farmers in Heego are expected to copy the embankment to prevent further erosion and keep their farms productive.
Soon after work on the river embankment protection began, Abdiwahid and his older brother invested in the farm and are now harvesting fruit and vegetables, which they supply to Borama and occasionally even to Djibouti.

"We could supply more vegetables and fruit to Borama and beyond, but the rough roads make it difficult; it takes long hours to reach Borama, the nearest big town." If the roads were repaired, we could grow a lot of perishable crops, which would then increase our income," says Abdiwahid, who is optimistic about the future.

"I feel our farm is now protected from the flash floods and is worth investing in. In fact, I am already doing so.”, he adds.

Under the SLMP, the Ministry of Agricultural Development is planning to repair the worst parts of Heego-Borama road thereby improving farmers’ access to the free market as far as Borama and then to Hargeisa and beyond. The Ministry has also constructed an agricultural office in Heego to provide farmers with assistance and extension services to increase productivity and thus incomes.

As well as soil and water conservation measures. the Sustainable Land Management Project improves agronomic practice by introducing high-yielding seeds, training farmers on crop production techniques, and conducting farmer schools.