Star Media Development Centre (SMDC) is working with GIZ, the German agency for international cooperation, on media campaigns to raise awareness about the nutritional benefits of eating fish and appropriate methods for preparing and preserving fish among returning refugees, internally displaced persons & vulnerable residents of the southern Somali coastal city of Kismayo.

Despite having second longest coastline in Africa, Somalia’s per capita consumption of fish is one of the lowest in the world. Fish is a relatively easy to access for large sections of the population.

The GIZ is also developing markets with sales outlets for fish products as well as counselling centres that provide advice on nutrition to mothers with infants and pregnant women in the city.
Initial measures to promote fish consumption have caught the attention of the population and even encouraged older people to change their eating habits.

The fisheries working group launched by GIZ is an example of putting the principle of effective help to practice. This working group brings together representatives of responsible authorities, NGOs and other development partners to create strategies, coordinate their own activities, improve efficiency and foster synergies through targeted consultation.