War Impact on Dryland Environments and Social-Ecological Resilience in Somalia (WIDER-SOMA)

General

Current wars are concentrated disproportionately in dryland regions yet little is known about their impacts and long-term socio-environmental consequences. The aim of this project is to understand the impacts of war on dryland environments and establish the foundations on which to build socio-ecological resilience to environmental degradation during- and post-conflict. We focus this proposal on Somalia, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Decades of internal conflict have directly and indirectly degraded Somalia's vulnerable dryland environment with deleterious impacts on its people, the majority of whom rely on the land for their livelihoods. This project will: 1) produce new multifaceted socio-environmental and historic datasets and analyses; and 2) build the interdisciplinary capacity and framework to understand the multiple dimensions of the land degradation problem and its causes. The long-term goal of this research is to convert this knowledge into sustainable land use in Somalia in partnership with local agencies and communities in the context of ongoing conflict.

Objectives

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.