Welcome to LIA-Horn of Africa!

Generally understood to include the countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, this region encompasses more than 100 million people and 2 million square kilometers.

Commercially and politically strategic because it borders key waterway passages through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean, the Horn has been heavily affected by the political and economic interests of other nations – France, Great Britain, and other European nations and, more recently, the United States. Meanwhile, countries within the Horn are often in conflict, and Somalia continues to suffer the chaos of civil war.

With dry lowlands along its eastern coast and mountains in the west, the Horn is home to much of the Great Rift Valley, a fertile basin that reaches from the Arabian peninsula to Mozambique in the south. The Horn’s past includes many advanced civilizations that developed indigenous writing systems, ingenious art and architecture, and agricultural innovations. Today, coffee, bananas, and livestock are among this region’s chief exports.

But droughts and floods have led to many natural catastrophes here, as have war and corruption. And as many of the world’s nations have engaged in the current War on Terrorism, the Horn has become an increasingly important and volatile region.

Click on the image below to learn more about the work of LIA in this area.