This learning brief documents key learning and insights from JRP III, identifies effective strategies and evidence-based recommendations for strengthening resilience among vulnerable populations, and contributes to institutional learning by FAO and its partners. With a particular emphasis on durable solutions for internally displaced people (IDPs), the brief explores agricultural livelihood packages that promote resilience and stability, support integration, and improve the overall quality of life for displaced communities. The methodological learning framework applied by the FAO Office in Somalia and the Knowledge Platform on Emergencies and Resilience (KORE) within FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience leveraged qualitative data collection and lived experiences as an important part of the learning process with the intention to provide rich, contextual insights and nuanced outcomes, based on a people-centred approach.

Located in the Horn of Africa, Somalia remains in a major protracted food crisis, extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as droughts and floods. Between 2022 and 2023, prolonged droughts severely disrupted agricultural and pastoral livelihoods across Somalia, driving widespread food insecurity and population displacement. During that time, regions such as Bay, Bakool and Gedo faced a risk of famine (Global Report on Food Crises, 2024). In 2018, an estimated 761 000 people had been displaced due to drought in Somalia since November 2016 (OCHA, 2017). As a result, IDPs have been relocating from rural areas to urban centres in search of better livelihood opportunities and access to humanitarian aid. In displacement-affected regions of Somalia, limited access to land – particularly among IDPs – is one of the most critical difficulties to achieving food security and self-reliance.

The Gedo region, located in southwestern Somalia along the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, is the country’s second largest by land area and it plays a strategic role in humanitarian response and agricultural recovery. The town of Dollow, situated at the confluence of the Dawa and Juba rivers, is particularly significant due to its fertile lands, water access for irrigation and livestock, and its position as a major humanitarian hub, supporting communities affected by climate-induced displacement and conflict (UN‑Habitat, 2018).

Households in the Gedo region relocate on average every six years as compared to every 30 years nationally, and the main driver of their relocation is climatic conditions (FAO, UNICEF and WFP, 2020). Security threats posed by non-state armed groups and interclan conflict have severely restricted access to remote areas, causing mass displacement, loss of life and major disruptions to the local economy (FAO, UNICEF and WFP, 2025).

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The publication will be available soon!