Source: APO – Report:
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Within the space of five weeks, the Government of Kenya, the Government of Uganda and the Federal Government of Somalia have each convened national inception workshops for the project “Accelerating Food Systems Transformation for Resilience to Climate Change in Africa,” marking the operational start, in all three focus countries, of a three-year initiative to build the resilience of livestock-based food systems to climate change. The workshops, held in Nairobi on 22 July, in Entebbe on 6 August and in Mogadishu on 12 August 2026, were jointly organised with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and each brought together government officials, development partners, private-sector actors, pastoralist communities and researchers to review and refine four inception reports covering livestock value chains, climate/index-based livestock insurance, land tenure security and climate-land information systems for evidence-based decision-making.
The regional roll-out began in Nairobi on 22 July 2026, when the Government of Kenya joined ECA, AU-IBAR and IGAD to open the Kenya National Inception Meeting at AU-IBAR’s headquarters. The gathering brought together representatives of national and county government, the National Land Commission, development partners, pastoralist associations, private-sector actors and researchers, who reviewed and helped refine the four inception reports and agreed on a Kenya-specific work plan and roadmap for implementation. The technical session opened against a stark backdrop: an estimated 29 million people across the region face hunger despite Africa’s considerable agricultural potential. Kenya’s livestock sector, contributing roughly 12% of national GDP and 40% of agricultural GDP, was identified as a key lever for agri-food transformation and trade diversification, even as it remains constrained by climate vulnerability, limited compliance with export standards, low uptake of livestock insurance and persistent gaps in data. The Kenya Livestock Value Chain Assessment will initially focus on the beef and camel milk value chains.
Discussions in Nairobi on climate/index-based insurance traced the evolution of such schemes in the country and underlined the need to transition away from heavily subsidised models toward more sustainable approaches, while flagging affordability, low renewal rates and payout delays as persistent challenges. On land, participants identified secure tenure, particularly in pastoral areas where mobility and shared resource use are essential, as a critical enabler of resilient livestock systems, even where supportive legal frameworks already exist. The day closed with thematic breakout discussions that tested the scope, methodology, site selection and stakeholder plans behind all four assessments, and agreed priority recommendations to guide the next phase.
Two weeks later, on 6 August 2026, the project held its official national launch in Uganda, at the Protea Hotel by Marriott in Entebbe. The workshop, anchored jointly in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries — drew engagement at ministerial level from both institutions: Lt. Col. (Rtd) Bright Rwamirama, Minister of State for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (Animal Industry), and Hon. Judith Nabakooba, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, who delivered the closing remarks. The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mr. Leonard Zulu; IGAD’s Head of Mission to Uganda, Joselyn Bigirwa; and ECA’s Dr. Medhat El-Helepi and Dr. Gladys Mosomtai also addressed the meeting, alongside AU-IBAR’s Dr. Sarah Ashanut Ossiya. Participation was broad: Members of Parliament, including Hon. Francis Akorikin (Kapelebyong), officials of the Ministry of Water and Environment, the Insurance Regulatory Authority and the Agro Insurance Consortium, dairy and pastoralist cooperatives such as Dwaniro Dairy Cooperative, a cultural leader from Karamoja, and development partners including aBi, FAO and UNDP all took part. Mr. Zulu pointed to the Government’s roughly UGX 312 billion Food Security and Nutrition Crisis Response Plan for Karamoja as evidence of national commitment, while Minister Rwamirama linked the project directly to Uganda’s Agro-Industrialisation Programme and Parish Development Model.
The four inception reports presented in Entebbe were validated as a sound basis for the assessments ahead, subject to refinement. Uganda’s dairy sector, producing an estimated 5.3 billion litres of milk and generating around USD 280 million in exports in 2024/25, anchors the value-chain work in Kiboga and Kayunga, while beef production and the associated hides-and-skins chain will be examined in Karamoja and Teso. On insurance, participants noted that Uganda already has the legal architecture for parametric products but lacks an operational livestock drought index and the data to calibrate it; livestock insurance penetration was estimated at only around 3%, against roughly 40% in India. On land, presenters noted that some 84% of land nationally remains undocumented, and Minister Nabakooba announced that Uganda’s National Land Use Policy, first adopted in 2013, is under review, inviting stakeholders to submit input before it goes to Cabinet. The workshop generated notably strong engagement; AU-IBAR’s technical team noted afterwards that it drew more discussion than the Kenya meeting, and closed with a wrap-up session in which consultants, AU-IBAR and ECA agreed committed timelines for the work ahead, including a zero draft by mid-December 2026 and a refined draft by the end of January 2027, ahead of national validation and a final reform package.
The roll-out then concluded in Mogadishu on 12 August 2026, and also had strong outcomes. The Federal Government of Somalia convened the national inception meeting in partnership with ECA, AU-IBAR and IGAD, launching a major three-year initiative to strengthen climate resilience across the country’s livestock, land and insurance systems. Attendance was high-level and multisectoral: at least five Directors-General took part, and proceedings were led by the Special Economic Advisor to the President’s Office, giving the assignment strong visibility and endorsement across government from the outset. Livestock underpins Somalia’s economy, contributing nearly half of national GDP and remaining the country’s largest source of export earnings, even as escalating climate shocks, unpredictable rainfall, prolonged dry spells and recurrent flooding continue to threaten pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods. The workshop set out how the project’s four assessment strands, livestock value chains, climate/index-based livestock insurance, land tenure security, and climate-land information systems, will respond to those pressures over the next three years.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Hassan Hosow, Chief Economic Advisor to the President and Executive Director of the National Economic Council, commended ECA, the African Union Commission and IGAD for an initiative he said was particularly valuable for its emphasis on knowledge production. “At the National Economic Council, our mandate is to generate economic evidence and translate it into policy. The quality of our decisions depends fundamentally on the quality of the evidence available to us,” he said. “The four areas before us; livestock value chains, index-based livestock insurance, land-tenure security, and climate-land information systems, illustrate this very well.” Dr. Hameed Nuru, WFP Representative in Somalia, spoke on behalf of Mr. George Conway, the UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator, calling the initiative a timely opportunity to translate Somalia’s food systems ambitions into practical investment and measurable results, through stronger governance, climate-smart and nature-based solutions, and improved decision-support systems. He committed WFP’s support as co-lead of the Food Security and Agriculture Sector, pledging its field presence, operational delivery and coordination experience to the partnership, and called for the workshop to mark “the beginning of a stronger partnership” toward a resilient, inclusive and climate-smart food system.
Dr. Medhat Elhelepi, the project’s Coordinator at ECA, framed the wider stakes. “Africa’s persistent hunger, despite its land, livestock, labour and market endowments, is fundamentally a challenge of converting existing assets into value, jobs, trade and resilience, rather than a lack of resources,” he said, adding that practical, country-owned solutions can unlock the full potential of the livestock sector. Dr. Mohamud Abdi Ahmed, IGAD’s Head of Mission to Somalia, said the central question facing the country was how to move “from repeatedly responding to climate shocks to systematically managing risk before those shocks become disasters.” He described the work ahead as being about more than data or an insurance product: “It is about building a more resilient pastoral economy in Somalia through stronger livestock value chains, effective risk transfer mechanisms and sustainable land and natural resource governance.” He reaffirmed IGAD’s commitment to work with ECA, AU-IBAR and the Federal Government to ensure the knowledge generated translates into policy, investment and action for Somali communities.
Dr. Laban MacOpiyo, representing the AU-IBAR Director, said the endorsement by government, federal member states, insurance and private-sector leaders, development partners and civil society of the inception reports on Somalia’s Livestock Value Chain Assessment and its Index-Based Livestock Takaful Viability Assessment signalled strong national ownership of the reform agenda ahead. “The endorsement marks a shift from fragmented, sector-by-sector efforts to one coordinated national framework, aligning livestock, insurance, land tenure and climate-information work behind a single, government-owned roadmap,” he said. Mr. Farah Ahmed, Director-General of the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing, thanked ECA, AU-IBAR and IGAD for their strategic leadership and technical partnership, stressing that secure land tenure underpins rangeland resilience, livestock productivity and climate adaptation, and is critical to unlocking insurance, restoration and sustainable grazing. Mr. Guru, Director-General of the Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range, said the initiative recognises many of the challenges facing Somalia’s livestock value chain and offers an important opportunity to strengthen climate resilience, land and pasture governance, livestock insurance mechanisms and evidence-based decision-making. “We should ensure that this initiative goes beyond assessments, workshops and reports,” he said. “We need to translate knowledge and evidence into practical policy reforms, investment opportunities and implementable programmes.”
Momentum has carried directly from the Mogadishu workshop into implementation. On the sidelines of the meeting, the ECA team held its exit meeting with counterparts and settled on a clear set of “low-hanging fruit” deliverables for the assignment, practical, near-term outcomes that can be advanced quickly. The team also met with Somalia’s assessment consultant to work through a detailed workplan, clearing the way for field activities to begin without delay.
With national inception workshops now concluded in Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, the project moves into its next phase: consolidating literature reviews and existing data, deepening stakeholder and government engagement, and carrying out the field assessments that will underpin four sets of national reform recommendations in each country. Kenya, Uganda and Somalia’s country teams will work concurrently through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, building toward validated national reports, national validation workshops and country-owned reform packages by the time the project concludes in the first quarter of 2028.
Accelerating Food Systems Transformation for Resilience to Climate Change in Africa is a UN-funded initiative implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in partnership with the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Governments of Kenya, Uganda and Somalia, running from 2026 to 2028. ECA is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations, mandated to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development. AU-IBAR is a specialised technical office of the African Union Commission mandated to support and coordinate the sustainable development and utilisation of animal resources across Africa. IGAD is a regional economic community bringing together countries of the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, to promote regional cooperation and integration, including on food security, environment and climate resilience.
– on behalf of The African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR).
