Camel leasing as a resilience-building practice: Insights from Somali pastoralist households and dairy farms

Following severe drought in Somalia in 2016 and 2017, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Somalia Growth, Enterprise, Employment and Livelihoods (GEEL) project encouraged camel leasing as a mutually beneficial practice between camel-herding pastoralists and camel milk dairies to build resilience to shocks. Camel leasing describes a formal agreement in which dairies lease lactating camels from pastoralists in exchange for monthly payment and care for the camel. The benefits of livestock leasing have not yet been explored in existing literature. We examine the case of camel leasing as a market-based resilience-building practice in the Woqooyi Galbeed region of Somaliland using a longitudinal mixed-methods approach. Our study finds that within the sample, leasing pastoralists were better able to save money, invest in assets, and send children to school compared to non-leasing pastoralists. Leasing dairies used leasing as a business strategy to increase milk production, raise profits, and invest in more assets. These economic gains were associated with contributions to community resilience, including new job opportunities and investment in communal assets. Leasing also had implications for Somali women and girls, associated with higher girls’ school enrollment rates, greater control over household income, and the creation of women’s savings and loan associations. However, leasing has negatively impacted female milk market traders who have been pushed out of the market due to greater competition from dairies. This study highlights the experiences of Somali camel-herding communities, presents the first data on livestock leasing for resilience, and provides learnings for future resilience-building innovations.