Background

With a population of 15 million and a gross domestic product per capita of $127, Somalia is one of the poorest countries in Africa. For more than twenty years, civil war raged in Somalia, followed by tribal feuds, resulting in a lack of most basic services today. The country has also been struggling with recurrent climatic shocks such as droughts and floods with increasing frequency. One consequence is that a large part of the population is affected by food crises. According to the FAO, 860,000 people suffer from food shortages.

Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, provision of higher education has been nearly nonexistent especially in veterinary medicine. Most of the senior veterinarians left the country to seek asylum abroad. Clan conflicts and harsh conditions in pastoral areas have forced those who remained in the country to move to urban centers.