Dialogue-building of Rural Development in Somalia: the Proposals of the International Somali Forum for Rural Development

The Somali state-failure in the last 20 years has facilitated new systems of governance at territorial level, financially sustained, among other factors, by the Somali Diaspora and by local and international civil society organizations (Munzele Maimbo, 2006). The need to involve the Somali Diaspora in the reconstruction and development process, settled by the Djibouti Peace Conference in 2004, has led to the promotion of the International Forum for Rural Development in Somalia financed by IFAD and promoted by the Representative of the Somali Government at the UN Agencies in Rome, with the technical support of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Padova. The paper presents part of the analysis and recommendations offered during the meetings in relation to the sole agricultural sector. Other sectoral analyses have been performed during the Forum activities in relation to “rural no farm activities” and to “health” and “primary education” in rural areas, discussing also the main differences in the three main Somalia’s geopolitical contexts (Central-South Somalia, Puntland and Somaliland). Special attention has been given to specific cross-cutting issues such as “territory and environment” and “institution and governance”. In the first part of the paper a brief introduction of the Somali socio-political context has been proposed, presenting also the recent dynamics in the political arena and the current aspects of the social insecurity exacerbated by the recent and harsh famine. The development co-operation activities and policies for the reconstruction are described in the second part, underlining the pivotal role that the primary sector should perform in the Somalia’s development. Consequently a specific attention has been paid to the agricultural sector (third part) presenting the key problems that still keep the sector in a persistent subsistence economy, mainly determined by the enduring war economy. Finally the paper presents some recommendations proposed by the Forum participants, trying to identify the key aspects that, from the point of the Somalis, should be considered by the International Community in order to promote a sustainable rural development.