2023 BRCiS report: Urban-rural livelihood linkages for displaced women in Somalia

Developing durable solutions that enable displacement-affected communities in Somalia to better support themselves requires:

1. Insights into the lives, livelihoods, and market and rural networks of women DACs – who, along with their children, are at the center of the current displacement crisis; and
2. A better understanding of market and non-market connections and flows between rural areas in Southwest State and urban Baidoa Town, including Barwaqo resettlement site. This rural↔urban chain and the surrounding context together comprise the rural↔urban system.

This report represents the culmination of one of the most extensive community engagement processes conducted in Somalia to date: a six-month research and human-centered design activity that explored these topics through in-depth, exploratory, and participatory mixed-methods research and a three-day co-creation workshop. The activity involved 39 women DAC members of self-help groups, 16 of their trade linkages, and 18 key informants from government, financial service providers, training organizations, trade associations, and non-governmental organizations.