Sustainable flood management and risk reduction action: Applicability of nature-based solutions for flood and drought management in Somalia

The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MOEWR) in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is carrying out the project “Sustainable Flood Management and Risk Reduction Action”, ongoing from August 2021 to March 2022. The project is funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), which also included a component of implementing flood mitigation interventions carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). UNEP’s scope of work under this project includes activities designed to support the implementation of NWRS in the aforementioned aspects and the objectives laid out by FCDO, by supporting MOEWR with the following project objectives:

1. Data, information and tools to carry out flash flood risk assessment
2. Research on applicability of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for flood and drought mitigation
3. Workshops for sharing of findings, collection of feedback and capacity-building.

The research conducted to produce the project’s NbS Catalogue shows that a variety of NbS are applicable and have already been tested in Somalia. They have flood and drought management benefits, but also important co-benefits in most cases. In summary, the catalogue presents a point of departure for the selection of NbS to be tested in the research activity, and captures other aspects such as the main challenges and key conditions for the success of NbS projects.