Exploring Camel Leasing’s Impact on Resilience: Takeaways from Recent Research
Event Information
Join USAID’s Center for Resilience and RTI International on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at 9:00am EST to learn about findings from the Feed the Future Somalia Camel Leasing to Impact Resilience Activity and how they can inform future research. After a presentation of the research by RTI and reactions from USAID’s Mission in Somalia, participants will be able to ask questions through a facilitated Q&A session.
About the project: In response to a severe drought in Somalia in 2016/2017, the USAID/Somalia Growth, Enterprise, Employment and Livelihoods (GEEL) project piloted the practice of camel leasing to mitigate impacts on the livestock sector. Under a camel leasing arrangement, commercial dairies lease a lactating camel from a camel-herding pastoralist, and in exchange provide the pastoralist with a monthly payment and a guarantee that the camel’s health and wellbeing will be maintained through the provision of food, water, and veterinary services. (Watch this video to learn more).
An offshoot of that work, the Feed the Future Somalia Camel Leasing to Impact Resilience Activity is a multi-year mixed methods research study funded by USAID and implemented by RTI International. Through a series of surveys, focus group discussions, and analyses, the study looked at the potential impacts of camel leasing on the resilience and well-being of Somali camel-herding pastoralists, pastoralist communities, and camel milk dairies.
Speakers
Emily Decker
Economist
RTI International
Emily Decker is an Economist with RTI’s Center for Applied Economics and Strategy and served as the technical specialist and quantitative lead for the camel leasing activity. At RTI, she specializes in using applied economics and statistical methods to support research informing international development, innovation, and environmental policy. Emily is a UCLA graduate with degrees in Economics and International Development Studies.
Diba Wako
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Specialist
USAID Somalia
Diba Wako is an Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries specialist for USAID/Somalia. He is a veterinary epidemiologist with 13 years experience with of livestock and livelihood projects in Somalia and Northern Kenya. Prior to becoming a veterinary epidemiologist, Diba spent over eight years herding livestock in the arid lands of northern Kenya. He has keen interest in camel production and disease management.
Rebecca Flueckiger
Associate Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting
RTI International
Dr. Rebecca Flueckiger is an Associate Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adapting (MERLA) in the International Development Group at RTI International, and serves as the Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Somalia Camel Leasing to Impact Resilience Activity. Dr. Flueckiger oversees applied research complementing programmatic monitoring and evaluation data filling evidence gaps and translating these findings into learning activities.
Dr. Ahmed Arteh
Consultant
RTI International
Dr. Ahmed Arteh works with RTI International as a consultant for the Feed the Future Somalia Camel Leasing to Impact Resilience Activity. Prior to working with RTI, Dr Arteh worked for Somalia's Ministry of Livestock, as team leader for the Vaccination, Treatment and Disease Surveillance Campaign in Somalia, which was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and as Head of Food Hygiene. He has also worked with VET-AID and CPP.
