How fishing cooperatives work in Somalia

Where Xidig members may contribute

Collaboration and service openings, not confirmed contracts or tenders:

• Boat and gear leasing: pooled member money buys boats that a co-op pays back from catch income, with clear records.
• Training in safety, fishing methods and bookkeeping, which the Lake Kivu example tied to repayment.
• Ice and cold storage alongside the boats (see Cold chain for fish, milk and meat in Somalia).
• Governance support: simple, transparent accounts and elections for co-ops.
• Market access for women processors and traders.

Possible services, research, supplier or collaboration roles

• A leasing pilot with one co-op: two or three boats and a repayment schedule tied to seasons.
• Bookkeeping tools for co-ops, usable on a phone.
• Research: mapping which co-ops are active, where, and what they own.
• Boat-building partnerships with yards that have built donor boats.

Who may find this useful

• Fishers and co-op leaders.
• Boat builders and marine mechanics.
• Microfinance and Islamic-finance professionals.
• Fish traders and processors.
• Researchers on coastal livelihoods.

How co-ops work today

How many. "It is estimated around 20 such cooperatives are fully functional and form a federation of fishing cooperatives" (UNIDO and Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 2020). The same study says NGOs, FAO and governments have promoted co-ops since 2012, and that "The Cooperative arranges finances for the community members to procure equipment/gears." Xidig found no count by member state.

The law.

• Cooperatives: Law No. 40 of 1973 on cooperative development still appears as the reference. Under it, co-ops had to register with the relevant ministry, with at least 20 members (FAO legal review). Xidig found no newer cooperative law.
• Fisheries: the Fisheries Management and Development Law No. 008 of 2023 says the ministry shall "promote co-management of all coastal fish stocks… through the development of cooperatives, fisheries associations and management committees". It sets an artisanal zone out to 12 nautical miles, and gives member states the right to issue licences in the 12–24 nautical-mile zone.

The fleet. The World Bank puts the number of fishers at 10,000 to 30,000. A 2005 count found about 4,300 fishing boats and 20,500 active fishers (cited by the World Bank in 2024). Somali artisanal boats are mostly 3 to 10 metres long, made of wood or fibreglass. The domestic catch has been "around 50,000 tons since 2010", while foreign fleets take an estimated 100,000 tonnes. There are about 122 landing sites.

What donors have given.

• Puntland (2019): FAO handed "12 fishing vessels with inboard diesel engines" to the ministry, which "turned them over to active fishing co-operatives", with EU funding.
• Jubaland (2021): three FAO-designed boats with a "7 metric ton capacity for fish and ice", built in Bosaso.
• Bajuni Islands and Kismayo (2020): boats, engines and solar ice machines for 700 beneficiaries, funded by the UK.
• World Bank Badmaal (US$55M, approved June 2024, to 2030): includes "strengthening or establishing sectoral organizations, including cooperatives and associations", and will "pilot the establishment of formal co-management systems in 12 selected communities" (appraisal document).

How it's been financed. Every handover Xidig found was a grant with no stated repayment. Xidig found no Somali leasing, microfinance or Islamic-finance product for fishing boats. A 2015 policy paper recommended "a fishermen cooperative system and a revolving fund program"; Xidig found no evidence one was set up. Elsewhere in Africa, an FAO review reports "almost 100 per cent loan recovery" at Lake Kivu in Rwanda, where credit came with training. At Lake Nokoué in Benin, "By 1989 only 40 per cent of the original amount had been repaid."

Women's role. The World Bank (2024) says women work in processing, local markets, wholesale, retail and restaurants but "occupy few decision-making positions". FAO has trained women in Bosaso in fish drying and marketing.

Known problems. UNIDO notes that donor projects and NGOs "leverage these Cooperatives to provide training inputs". A 2026 preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, describes informal, often clan-based governance and weak financial management. The World Bank's lesson from past projects is that "project design and implementation arrangements must be kept simple, transparent and use existing modalities where possible".

What this means. Co-ops are the obvious channel for the government's proposed boats and jetties, but grant-funded boats have not built a lasting way to finance the next boat. A leasing model tied to training could fill that gap.

Dependencies and implementation constraints

• Security at sea and illegal foreign fishing, estimated at US$100–450M a year.
• Licensing rules, which differ between the 0–12 and 12–24 nautical-mile zones.
• Ice, fuel and spare parts at landing sites.
• Buyers for extra catch, domestic or export.
• Co-op governance strong enough to manage repayments.

Risks and unknowns

• Repayment: grant-funded boats have set expectations, and past revolving funds have failed.
• Catch figures: the government's figures of 28,441 MT and 4,762 jobs are unsourced.
• Co-op counts are old (2020) and not broken down by state.
• Boat numbers are from a 2005 count.
• Overlap with the World Bank project in the same communities.

Questions members should verify before acting

1. Which co-ops near you are active, and what do they already own?
2. Is the World Bank project working with them?
3. What would a boat cost, and what could it earn in a season?
4. How would repayments be collected and recorded?
5. Which authority licenses fishing in that zone?

What is confirmed, and what isn't

Confirmed

• The two proposals, their printed costs and their pre-feasibility stage.
• The 2023 fisheries law's co-management provisions.
• The donor handovers listed above, with dates.
• The Badmaal project's co-op and co-management plans (2024).

Our interpretation

• Leasing with training is a better fit for pooled member money than grants.
• Co-op governance will decide whether leasing works.

Not yet verified

• The current number of active co-ops by state.
• Whether any leasing or revolving fund operates today.
• The government's catch and job figures.

Relevant next steps

• Co-op members: share what your co-op owns and needs through Xidig.
• Finance professionals: help design a simple, faith-compliant lease.
• Follow the Ministry of Fisheries and Blue Economy and the World Bank's Somalia fisheries project.