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MOGADISHU – Somalia has launched the new World Food Programme Country Strategic Plan for 2026–2030, reflecting a growing effort to reshape the country’s approach to food security and move from responding to recurring crises toward building a more sustainable national capacity to address them. Somali Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama launched the plan during an official event held in Mogadishu on Tuesday, attended by government officials, United Nations representatives, international and development partners, civil society representatives, and members of the Somali diaspora, as part of a partnership aimed at supporting Somalia’s humanitarian and development priorities.
The plan has a total value of approximately $1.536 billion over five years, following its approval by the World Food Programme Executive Board in June, at a time when Somalia faces accumulated food security challenges resulting from drought, conflict, displacement, climate change, and declining resources for humanitarian assistance. The plan seeks to support the most affected groups and communities while strengthening livelihoods and local food systems and increasing households’ ability to withstand shocks, allowing greater emphasis to be placed on sustainable solutions rather than continued reliance on emergency interventions.
Salah Ahmed Jama said the Somali government views the plan as part of a broader national pathway aligned with the National Transformation Plan, while commending the support provided by the World Food Programme during previous humanitarian crises. He explained that the priority extends beyond providing food to people in need to building the capacity of the state and local communities and enabling them to rely on their own resources and capabilities. He said the government hopes Somalia will gradually reach a stage in which it is less dependent on external humanitarian assistance and more capable of meeting the needs of its people independently and sustainably.
The plan includes several interconnected areas, including ensuring that crisis-affected populations receive timely life-saving food and nutrition assistance, strengthening their ability to prepare for and recover from shocks, and supporting women and households vulnerable to food insecurity in rural, urban, and peri-urban areas. It also focuses on developing more resilient food systems, diversifying income sources, supporting nutrition-sensitive social protection programmes, and strengthening the role of national and local institutions in crisis management, helping build a response more closely aligned with community needs and national priorities.
The launch also provided an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of partnership among the Somali government, the World Food Programme, the United Nations, and development partners, with participants stressing that addressing the food crisis requires support for productive sectors, particularly agriculture and livestock, improved local production, and stronger household capacity to withstand economic and climate pressures. The event also highlighted the impact of recurring droughts on Somali households, while Director General of the Ministry of Planning, Investment and Economic Development Abdulfatah Abdulkadir Farah “Hareed” said the plan is aligned with the objectives of the National Transformation Plan and supports Somalia’s long-term development vision.
Implementation of the plan faces significant challenges, foremost among them securing full funding amid declining international humanitarian assistance, as well as the need for sustained investment in infrastructure, agricultural production, social protection, and institution-building. Addressing food insecurity also requires tackling its interconnected causes, including conflict, displacement, weak production, and climate impacts. The success of the plan will therefore depend on Somalia’s ability to strengthen its institutions, develop its productive sectors, and improve coordination with partners so that international support can gradually become an investment in the country’s capacity to produce food, build resilience, and achieve greater self-reliance.
Somalia faces accumulated food security challenges resulting from the interaction of climate, security, and economic factors that have weakened the livelihoods of large sections of the population, particularly agricultural and pastoral communities. In this context, the new plan represents an opportunity to strengthen a national approach linking humanitarian response with development and resilience-building, rather than treating each crisis as an isolated emergency. Turning this vision into tangible results will depend on sustained financing and partnerships, improved security conditions, stronger local production, and more capable national institutions, helping Somalia build a more stable food system with less dependence on external assistance.
