This is an EU supported programme. The main objective of this evaluation was, “to assess the achievements of fourteen projects (of which six are still on-going) in the food security sector as a whole, and to identify and analyse lessons learned”. All of these projects have been funded under the Official Letter of 1996 “Strengthening food security through decentralised cooperation” with a total amount of Euros 11.5 million invested over the period. The evaluation was led by a member of theNRgroup, Hugh Gibbon.

The main outputs from the assignment were:

• A summary of lessons learned at project and programme level
• An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the 14 projects
• Recommendations on future interventions and approaches that aim to support food security in a sustainable manner (this included establishing/ confirming priorities in the light of current Commission strategies for Somalia)

There are a number of interesting and innovative projects in the programme portfolio two examples include;

• a small processing plant for pasteurising camel milk and marketing the resulting products in suitable packaging for the Somali market and,
• identifying and supporting small scale businesses (including export businesses) based around the sustainable exploitation of natural products – for example henna and honey.

Page last updated February 25, 2008