Advancing Somalia's Livestock Sector Together: ILRI signs an MoU with the Government of Somalia’s Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range

A delegation from the Government of Somalia’s Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range visited ILRI’s Nairobi campus on 15 February 2023 to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties. Hon Hassan Hussein Mohamed, Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range co-signed the agreement with ILRI’s interim Director General Shirley Tarawali.  

The MoU is the product of a months-long collaboration. In October 2022, the Minister and a delegation from the Government of Somalia’s Ministry visited ILRI and its research station, Kapiti, to discuss synergies between the parties and priority areas of development in the Somalia livestock sector. Delegations from both parties found areas of collaboration and decided to convene again to create an institutional agreement. 

The main objective of the document is to establish a long-term relationship for exploring complementary research, institutional- and capacity-building skills to further the missions of both parties.

In particular, the MoU outlines collaborative activities in research and development in livestock technologies, rangelands research, livestock and the environment, and livestock systems, markets, livelihoods and gender. The agreement also focuses on capacity development of value chain actors and joint resource mobilization in research, sector economic development and capacity-building activities. It builds on ILRI's existing activities in Somalia, including index-based livestock insurance, participatory land use planning and One Health. 

The signing was preceded with opening remarks by ILRI’s Iain Wright, Deputy Director General – Integrated Sciences, and a presentation on the challenges and opportunities in the livestock sector of Somalia, by Dr Aden Hussein Derow, Director of Animal Production and Research at the Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range. The Minister welcomed the commitment by ILRI to work closesly with Somalia and mentioned the importance of this cooperation to see the sector develop in terms of animal health, animal feed, institutional capacity development and innovative research and development.

The MoU provides an exciting framework for continued collaboration between the two parties in improving lives in the livestock sector. 

Photo: ILRI's Shirley Tarawali, acting interim Director General, and Somalia's Minister of Livestock, Forestry and Range, Hon Hassan Hussein Mohamed, shake hands after signing the MoU. Photo Credit: ILRI