Ugunji Community Garden

Slow Food in Somalia

Somalia has been subject to one of the worst crises of any country. Long years of anarchy, civil war, tribal conflicts, fundamentalism, banditry and natural disasters have devastated the country, and this prolonged conflict and instability has damaged agricultural productivity. Many farmers have either lost their assets (livestock and irrigation equipment) or been displaced from their land. The production of bananas and other fruits, once Somalia's second largest export after livestock, has been hindered by the civil war and intermittent armed clashes over control of this lucrative export business. Local people, meanwhile, must often depend on international food aid for their survival. Slow Food has existed in Somalia since 2011. Today it has a strong network that promotes sustainable food production, protects food biodiversity by saving many products from extinction through the Ark of Taste project and connects key figures in the country’s food world. Despite the difficult conditions and the political situation since the 1990s, Slow Food has still managed to create a remarkable number of community and school food gardens, planted with crops like lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, white and red onions, sweet and hot peppers, pumpkins, spinach, sesame and maize. The message that Slow Food Somalia wants to send to the world is that we can work together to end this cycle of humanitarian crises by developing the agricultural sector into one that is highly productive, profitable and sustainable.