Somalia faces escalating climate and ecological crises that threaten food security, livelihoods, and peace. Despite contributing less than 0.1% of global emissions,1 Somalia bears disproportionate impacts from droughts, floods, and desertification, compounded by decades of illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping by external actors, as well as charcoal production. External support remains uncertain amid shrinking aid flows and stalled climate finance. Drawing on two major recent studies by PDRC and the University of Sussex—one on climate shocks in Somalia and another on resilience within the education system—together with insights from communities, scholars, and policymakers at its recent Climate, Peace, and Security conference, this policy brief argues that Somalia must leverage indigenous knowledge systems, particularly Xeer, to strengthen resilience and adaptation. It outlines the scale of the challenge, the erosion of indigenous knowledge, and practical steps to embed indigenous practices into education. Recommendations include bringing elders and youth into education governance, enhancing community-led learning, and leveraging recent curriculum reforms. These measures build on existing strengths in the education system and are informed by a pathbreaking model for centering African knowledge in the education system—Somalia’s mass literacy campaign in the 1970s. […]