Gender in Emergency Food Security, Livelihoods and Nutrition in Somalia

The primary objective of drafting this report is to share the existing recent literature on the traditional and changing
gender roles within pastoral, agro-pastoral, riverine, urban and IDP communities in Somaliland, Puntland and
South Central. This informs identification of data gaps and recommendations.
FSNAU intends to put this information to use in several ways: to strengthen routine FSNAU data collection tools
and analysis from a gender perspective and to give strategic input into a planned FSNAU stand-alone gender study
on Somalia. The focus of the stand-alone study is to gather gender information on Somalia food security, nutrition
and livelihoods that will complement FSNAU’s routine data collection processes. Additionally, the Compendium
will provide reference and baseline understanding of the gender trends in Somalia to support the Food Security,
Livelihoods and Nutrition Teams of FSNAU in establishing measurable gender indicators and improve approaches
for collecting gender-specific information and methodologies, and addressing the existing gender imbalance in
enumerators.
In collating the information available, the authors of this report, conducted a desk review of the documented
literature in Somalia since 2007. A primary source was FSNAU data which has been supplemented by other
available sources. The review revealed that there is a wealth of information on traditional and changing gender
roles and responsibilities in food security, livelihood and nutrition but this had not been compiled into a user-friendly
central reference.