By Asha Elmi - Reporter
Mogadishu, 8 September 2026 Somalia’s Banadir regional administration has launched a dairy project targeting 300 women as part of a drive to create jobs and strengthen the livestock sector, a senior official said on Monday.
The project will support women selected from districts across Banadir, including widows and women caring for orphans, according to Banadir Deputy Governor for Social Affairs and Public Awareness Abdi Aziz Osman Mohamed.
The initiative will provide the women with solar-powered refrigerators and milk storage containers to improve the preservation, hygiene and safety of milk sold to consumers.
“Somalia’s livestock sector is one of the most important parts of the country’s economy,” Mohamed said in a speech marking the launch of the project.
The administration plans to organise the beneficiaries into groups and eventually develop them into small-scale dairy factories, linking the initiative to the National Transformation Plan (NTP) and its job-creation agenda, he said.
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The project builds on a traditional practice in Somalia in which women have sold milk in local communities, but aims to introduce improved equipment and production methods, Mohamed said.
The administration will monitor the groups’ production and market performance and seek to expand the initiative into small-scale processing facilities, he added.
Mohamed said the project could help increase women’s incomes and contribute to economic growth by expanding local production and investment in the dairy sector.
He also said similar initiatives could eventually be extended to other federal member states, arguing that improved milk storage and handling could strengthen food safety while creating additional employment opportunities.
The livestock sector is a major component of Somalia’s economy, with livestock and livestock products forming an important source of livelihoods and exports.