Agriculture Development Organization (ADO)

The Agricultural Development Organization in Somaliland is an organization working towards the improvement and advancement of agriculture in the region. They focus on enhancing agricultural practices, promoting food security, and fostering economic growth in Somaliland.

The project enhances village level planning on the use of natural resources to mitigate and improve preparedness to the effects of extreme weather. The project promotes rainwater harvesting, irrigation and greenhouse farming, introduces seed banking technology and improves the availability of fodder. The project forms women’s livelihood groups, builds their capacities in poultry farming and apiculture.

The project improves the profitability of cooperatives and women entrepreneurs in the self-help groups (SHG) by improving climate resilience and strengthening their operational and commercial capacity.

Promoting women’s productive and decision-making roles manifests in a heightened risk of partner and/or non-partner violence and harassment. The project entail strategies to mitigate these risks, utilizing the expertise of ISF partners who specialize in the prevention of gender-based violence.

The main development processes in 2024 are as follows:

• The SHGs and cooperatives will receive further training and technical support in business management, development and marketing of farm products. The project gives women and men periodical market updates and links beneficiaries to local microfinance institutions.

• The project will establish community level natural resource management (NRM) committees that will be responsible for implementing the community level climate adaptation and mitigation activities. such as land use plans and disaster preparedness and response activities.

• Women and men farmers will be trained in sustainable NRM practices, e.g. water harvesting and flood mitigation, land rehabilitation and agroforestry, rangeland management and integrated pest management. The project will construct structures for water management, e.g. gabion boxes, soil bunds, water canals and small water collection dams.

• After the improvements in soil and water management, the project will buy cereal, legume and vegetable seeds to beneficiaries in order to diversify the cropping system. To improve access to seeds, the project will train a total of 50 female and 50 male farmers in on-farm seed selection, plant breeding, and seed handling and storage.

• In 2023, the project built and tested a greenhouse prototype that can withstand the windy conditions and extreme heat of the project areas. In 2024, greenhouse vegetable production with drip irrigation will start in the project areas. The project team will make an exposure visit to Ethiopia to promote sharing and learning on climate smart dryland farming and disaster preparedness and response.

• Moreover, the project will train 10 women and 10 men in honey processing and storing and buy them necessary equipment. Also, it will organise discussions on the role of women in agriculture and the negative effects of violence against women and girls, and how to prevent and mitigate it.