INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGE SERVICES

2024
DROUGHTS
OF SOMALIA
Prepared for :
Abdiladiif Firin Saed
DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA

Table OF Contents
DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 4
1.2 What is the Drought? ......................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Types of Drought? .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.4 Examples of Drought Impacts. ........................................................................................................... 5
1.5 Causes of Droughts in Somalia........................................................................................................... 6
1.6 Impact Of Agirculture IN Somalia ...................................................................................................... 8
1.7 EFFECTS DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA ...................................................................................................... 8
1.8 Humanitarian Crises. .......................................................................................................................... 9
1.8.1 Cereal crops ............................................................................................................................... 10
1.8.2 Conflict and poor governance ................................................................................................... 11
1.8.3 Food insecurity .......................................................................................................................... 11
1.9 Mitigating the climate crisis in Somalia........................................................................................... 12
1.10 role of education in drought in somalia ........................................................................................ 13
1.10.1 How droughts in Somalia is preventing children from going to school. ............................... 13
1.12 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 20
1.13 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................... 20
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Dedication

We have prepared this book for the benefit of Somali students to improve their knowledge
DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA

Acknowledgment

This work would not have been possible with our teacher's help specially Mr.Aston support and
also my effort that lead to get this useful information and ILS library and also google search.
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DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA
1.1 Introduction
Somalia has been facing severe droughts for many years, leading to devastating consequences for its
people and environment.

More than 7.1 million people in Somalia are fighting to survive, recover and rebuild their lives from the
worst drought Somalia has seen in 40 years.

1.2 What is the Drought?

Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world. It is
a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage. Drought
can have a serious impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment.

1.3 Types of Drought?

To help with drought classification and monitoring, scientists have defined several types of drought:

Meteorological Drought
When dry weather patterns dominate an area.

Hydrological Drought
When low water supply becomes evident in the water system.

Agricultural Drought

When crops become affected by drought.

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Socioeconomic Drought.

When the supply and demand of various commodities is affected by drought.

Ecological Drought

When natural ecosystems are affected by drought.

1.4 Examples of Drought Impacts.

Drought can lead to a wide range of environmental, social, and economic impacts. Below are just a few
examples of the far-reaching consequences of drought.

Agriculture
Drought can reduce the water availability and quality necessary for productive
farms, ranches, and grazing lands. It can also contribute to insect outbreaks,
increases in wildfire, and altered rates of carbon, nutrient, and water cycling—
impacting agricultural production and critical ecosystem services.

Wildfire
Drought can be a contributing factor to wildfire. Dry, hot, and windy weather
combined with dried out (and more flammable) vegetation can increase the
probability of large-scale wildfires.
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Public Health
Drought can cause significant human health outcomes, including decreased water
quantity and quality, increased incidence of illness and disease (e.g., Valley Fever),
adverse mental health outcomes as livelihoods are challenged, and overall,
increased mortality rates.

Ecosystems
Drought can alter or degrade critical functions of healthy ecosystems, including
reduced plant growth, reduction or extinction of local species, and landscape-level
transitions (e.g., a forest being replaced by a grassland).

Water Quality
During drought, decreased water levels, warmer temperatures, and soil runoff can
lead to algal growth, lower dissolved oxygen levels, and increased turbidity, posing
health risks for human and aquatic life.

1.5 Causes of Droughts in Somalia

Factors such as climate change, deforestation, and overgrazing contribute to the recurring droughts in
Somalia.

Families across Somalia have had their lives uprooted by a catastrophic hunger crisis that could soon be
declared a famine. A prolonged drought has devastated crop production and made it near impossible for
herders to find food for their animals.
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While Somalia is facing its fifth consecutive failed rainy season, this is no “natural disaster.” Human-
caused climate change has increased the frequency and severity of droughts, and decades of conflict
have significantly eroded the country’s ability to respond to crises.

People are facing impossible choices to get by. Many have little option but to leave their homes to seek
safety and assistance at established camps, in cities, or across the border in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Hundreds of thousands of people are currently on the move, with many ending up in camps that are still
filled with those who were displaced during famines in 2011 and 2017.

We spoke to some of the people forced to flee their homes in September, shortly after the IRC arrived to
start work in the camps. Facing some of the most difficult conditions imaginable, below, they gave an
insight into their lives.

Owliyo, 40, with her 1-year-old Son Hassen at

Daryel Shabellow, a camp for displaced families
in Somalia. Increasingly, the drought is driving
people to camps and makeshift settlements as
they seek assistance and safety
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1.6 Impact Of Agirculture IN Somalia

The agriculture sector in Somalia is severely affected by droughts, leading to crop failures and livestock
deaths.

Somalia is a low-income country with a fragile economy that relies largely on agriculture, livestock,
remittances and international assistance. Agriculture accounts for a significant proportion of GDP and is
key to Somalia’s economic growth and poverty reduction.

The country grapples with significant challenges. Ongoing conflict severely impacts agricultural
productivity and livestock exports. The impacts of climate change, especially flooding and extreme
drought, have resulted in nearly 5 million people suffering from acute food insecurity. Desertification is
reducing the viability of rain-fed agriculture and livestock production. Unemployment, particularly
among youth, is alarmingly high while poverty rates are highest in rural areas. Moreover, Somalia is one
of the top ten origin countries for refugees.

Smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists face major risks, including climate change,
insecurity, weak institutional capacity and land degradation.

1.7 EFFECTS DROUGHTS IN SOMALIA

Over the past 25 years, Somalia has experienced a cycle of protracted droughts, culminating in the most
recent one in 2016 and 2017, when rains failed for three seasons in a row.

Tragically, drought images from the country are so familiar that they rarely make the headlines. But the
situation in Somalia has grown desperate. The recent drought has caused spikes in food scarcity,
malnutrition, and cholera and other diseases; it has also driven people from the rural areas into the
cities. In 2017, 1.2 million children were projected to be acutely malnourished; 80,000 children were
forced to stop attending school; and 120,000 risked dropping out.
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Somalia faces its worst drought in decades

and devastating famine after the rainy
season failed for the fourth consecutive
time, humanitarian organisations warned
last years.

55-Year-old Salado and her family left

their village in Gedo Region to a
displacement site of Kaxareey in
Dollow after losing all their livestock.

1.8 Humanitarian Crises.

Somalia
Somalia is experiencing one of the world’s worst hunger crises after its worst drought in four
decades. Nearly two in five children under the age of five are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition by
July 2024.

Somalia saw the second-largest number of children on the move in 2023, mostly due to floods, drought,
conflict and insecurity. Up to 1.6 million additional children may have been displaced internally or
externally in 2023, bringing the total number of children displaced in Somalia to 2.4 million.
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A soldier looking over a maize field

where Somali farmers are tending a
crop in Dollow, northern Somalia.

Since the fall of Siad Barre’s regime in 1991, which led to a prolonged period of civil unrest, Somalia has
been in a near-constant state of food insecurity. It also suffered two famines – in 1992 and 2011.

Every year, between April and May (when crop is planted), aid agencies make dire predictions about the
impending doom of the upcoming growing season and to appeal for funds to support increased food aid.

This year, Save the Children announced that millions of Somalis won’t have enough food to eat as crop
and vegetable production is expected to drop by 75%-80%. And the UN’s 2021 Somalia Humanitarian
Response Plan seeks US$1.09 billion to provide “life-saving assistance” across Somalia.

As agricultural experts working in Somalia for the last 35 years we have done extensive research into
food production. We have been involved in developing agricultural policies aimed at finding solutions to
the country’s stagnant cereal production with an eye on reducing food insecurity in the country As part
of our work we investigated historic trends over the last 60 years in domestic cereal production, cereal
imports, and food aid in Somalia. We found that there’s been a precipitous decrease in the production of
key cereals – maize and sorghum – over time, falling from a high of 91 kg per capita in 1972 to just 30 kg
per capita in 2012. This is due to a combination of stagnant crop production and a rapidly increasing
population. Conflict, corruption and bad governance have made matters worse.

Once almost cereal independent, the production decline has created a dependence on food aid and
imports – over 50% cereal consumed is imported. This is hugely problematic: a majority of Somalis live
below the poverty level and cannot afford to pay for food and relying on imports leaves them vulnerable
to markets.

Improving domestic cereal production in Somalia should be part of any future food security strategy for
the country. The implementation of simple agricultural best management practices – such as fertiliser
application and timely planting and weeding – can increase cereal production in the country.

In practical terms this means many farmers could increase production, if there was increased incentive
to do so. Currently, food aid and imports can stifle domestic production because farmers have little
incentive to put in the extra effort to produce more than that which they consume.

1.8.1 Cereal crops

Sorghum and maize are the predominant cereal crops grown in Somalia and historically, these two crops
have provided a sizeable portion of total caloric intake of the Somali diet. Livestock is also a key local
consumption commodity for household food security.
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Sorghum production is mainly done by smallholder farmers and is carried out in dryland areas. Sorghum
is more drought tolerant than maize and is grown predominantly in the Bay Region, south-central
Somalia between the Juba and Shebelle rivers, Somalia’s largest rivers.

Maize is typically grown on irrigated land, often by small- and medium-sized farmers. These landholders
often employ family labour to manage their land. The major maize growing areas are along the Shebelle
and Juba rivers.

Somali cereal production levels have not increased in the last 60 years. In fact, from 1972 to 2012 cereal
production per capita decreased by 66%.

There are a few factors that have contributed to this.

The first is poor yields. Average yield of both sorghum (300 to 500 kg/ha) and maize (900 to 1200 kg/ha)
is low compared with most, about 20% of the average yield in developed countries.

Average yields are low because farmers typically don’t have access to the necessary agricultural inputs,
for example, quality seeds and fertiliser. They also lack access to farm machinery, such as planters,
fertiliser applicators, sprayers and harvesting equipment. In addition, there are no research and
extension services in the country to help farmers make an informed decision.

Food shortages can also be due to the weather, such as flooding or drought. Higher frequencies and
severity of drought events observed in recent years could make things worse.

Limited rainfall can negatively impact sorghum production. In recent years drought frequency is once
every three years. Flooding can negatively impact irrigated maize production. Though localised, the
country is experiencing flooding every two to three years.

Because the Shebelle and Juba rivers originate in high rainfall areas of Ethiopia, rains there can cause
subsequent flooding in Somalia while drought conditions exist during the same growing season.

1.8.2 Conflict and poor governance

Another major reason for food insecurity in the country remains conflict, corruption and bad
governance.

Civil unrest, since the early 1990s, is directly related to a deterioration of irrigation infrastructure. It has
reduced the access that farmers may have to markets and the country lacks an agricultural regulatory
framework, affecting food production and marketing.

The unrest has also resulted in the displacement of many farmers – there are about to 2.6 million
internally displaced people in Somalia. This reduces the harvest of both crops.

In addition, illegal taxation on agricultural produce while it’s being transported to market is
commonplace, both by government officials and rebel groups. This acts as a disincentive to farmers to
produce crops.

1.8.3 Food insecurity

The fact that Somalia has not improved crop production has led to food insecurity. There are a few things
that can be done to change this.
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First, Somalia should improve the way in which production data are reported. Somalia has two growing
seasons each year: the Gu from April through May and the shorter Deyr from October into November.
However, data is reported annually. This gives an incomplete view of how drastically different the
seasons can be and causes confusion on production area data.

It’s also imperative that production and reliability increases. This can be done by adopting relatively
simple agricultural management techniques that have been well-researched and recognised as
important yield factors in sub-Saharan Africa.

For example, the country could:

Introduce proper land and irrigation management techniques.

Improved transportation infrastructure and market development.

Work on canal restoration and land levelling for improved irrigation efficiency.

Introduce organic and mineral fertilisers, train farmers on their importance and develop policies on
fertiliser importation.

Instigate land ownership laws, giving farmers an incentive to improving agricultural infrastructure.

Encourage timely weeding and optimum planting population for increased yields.

Better monitor food aid distribution and encourage more aid to be domestically produced. This would
enhance agricultural capabilities within Somalia.

Enhance security in agricultural areas. This would free up donor funds that currently go to providing
security of humanitarian efforts.

Encourage cropping and intercropping with legumes such as cowpea and mungbean. While this will not
enhance yield of the cereal crop, it spreads risk and adds to diversity in the diet.

1.9 Mitigating the climate crisis in Somalia.

Climate change is feeding armed conflict in Somalia

Conflict prevention in the Horn must include environmental initiatives, not just counter-terrorism and
piracy efforts.
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A SOMALI WOMAN CARRYING WATER IN A

REFUGEE CAMP

1.10 role of education in drought in somalia

Conflict, humanitarian crisis and displacement has devastated Somalia's education sector for more than
three decades. Somalia has one of the world's largest out-of-school populations, and the impact of
climate change has further exacerbated the barriers and challenges to accessing education.

1.10.1 How droughts in Somalia is preventing children from going to school.

Since the start of Somalia's humanitarian crisis in 2022, more than 1.7 million children have lost access
to education. This is due to abrupt movement, loss of household income and many families being forced
to decide between surviving or sending their children to school. It is often girls who are suffering the
most by abruptly ending their education at a young age.
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The impact of climate change in Somalia is multidimensional and long-lasting, and here are two ways
drought has impacted children's access to education.

1) Forced to flee
When households face the economic burden of drought and can no longer sustain themselves,
they are forced to uproot and take risky journeys in search of food and water. For children in
Somalia, this has interrupted their access to school and a safe environment.

Khadija Ali, a mother of four children,

is now living in a displacement camp
in Garowe, Somalia.

For Khadija Ali, who has been displaced for over a year in Garowe, a city in the northeast of the country,
moving from her rural village was a life-saving decision. However, it meant that she was forced to choose
between survival or maintaining her children's access to school.

“I have to choose between feeding my children or sending them to school,” says Khadija.

While children in Somalia are aware of the everyday impact of drought, the sudden interruption to their
education can come as a shock. For Khadija's children, it has led to sadness and confusion. With no clear
sight of when they will return home, and with limited schools nearby, displacement has hindered their
development and is likely to trap them in the endless cycle of poverty.
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2) Forced into work

The economic impact of drought has led families to rely heavily on their children to ease the
financial burden. Young boys and girls as young as eight years old are forced to work, often in
unsafe working environments.

Within Somalia’s displaced communities, young children no longer wake up to go to school.

Instead, they get up daily for unsafe employment in the agricultural, hospitality or construction
sectors. Other income opportunities involve more informal labour, like collecting charcoal and
firewood.

Layla Abdi, 14, is one of the 2.4 million school-

aged children affected by Somalia’s drought.
Nurto Ahmed, 17, is one of the displacement-
affected teenagers living in Kismayo.

Nurto Ahmed, 17, is one of the

displacement-affected teenagers
living in Kismayo.
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Nurto Ahmed is a young teenager who is currently living far away from home in Kismayo. The only thing
stopping her from accessing school is money. “I have always wanted to go back to school, but in this
drought, education is not considered as important for girls,” she says.Despite the challenges, Nurto
explains that her dreams are still as big, and she is determined to find a way to reach them. "I want to
become a teacher, and speak on behalf of my community," she says

More must be done

Somalia’s drought has increased the existing educational gap for children. With many families unable to
return to their place of origin, thousands of children's futures remain in limbo. What’s more, with
children out of education, they are more exposed to different protection issues, such as exploitation and
gender-based violence.

As the humanitarian crisis enters its second year, more needs to be done to support displaced children in
restoring their right to education, such as building temporary schools in camps and providing families
with the money to cover school fees.

Children in Somalia are demanding their right to education, and we need to listen!

In Somalia, education was once considered one of the most important factors for the development of
the society. "To be without knowledge, is to be without light" goes the Somali proverb.

Education in emergencies is one of the most underfunded priorities in Somalia's humanitarian response
plan, with thousands of children living without access to their fundamental right to education.

But young people are demanding a safe learning environment across Somalia's displaced communities.
At the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), we are calling for the international community and national
stakeholders to prioritise education in emergency response and find long-term solutions for access to
education during and after crisis.

A group of school children from the

displaced communities in Kismayo
engage in a group discussion during
an education session
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1.11 Crisis in Somalia: Catastrophic hunger amid drought and conflict

Somalia now ranks at the top of the International Rescue Committee’s Emergency Watchlist. Here are
five reasons why the country could face the world’s worst crisis in 2023.

For the first time ever, Somalia is pushed to the top of the International Rescue Committee’s Emergency
Watchlist, as a devastating drought, coupled with the effects of three decades of conflict, have created a
catastrophic food crisis.

The IRC has produced an annual Watchlist for over a decade. Our Crisis Analysis Team consolidates 67
variables and reviews them alongside insights from the IRC’s over 40,000 staff and volunteers to identify
the 20 countries at greatest risk of experiencing a significant deterioration in their humanitarian
situations over the year ahead.

Somalia is in the midst of its fifth consecutive failed rainy season. By mid-2023, over 8 million people—
nearly half of the population—will be living through crisis levels of food insecurity as the country faces
an impending famine

WHAT DOES A FOOD INSECURITY CRISIS OR

“IMPENDING FAMINE” IN SOMALIA LOOK
LIKE?
Food crises do not happen overnight. By the time institutions like the IRC start talking about a “food
insecurity crisis” or “impending famine,” a catastrophe is already underway. Immediate action is needed
to avoid mass deaths. Children are already starting to die because their parents cannot give them
enough food to survive.

People are forced to make impossible choices. For example, they are having to skip meals, marry off
children, or sell their own bodies in order to get enough money to survive. Children are also more
susceptible to common diseases as their bodies are weakened from a lack of nutrition.

A new report by the Somalia government’s Minister of Health estimates that the drought caused 43,000
excess deaths in 2022. People are starving to death each day, and they are in physical pain from hunger.
Their bodies cannot fight off diseases like diarrhea, measles or malaria, with children often dying at
twice the rate of adults.
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WHY IS SOMALIA FACING AN IMPENDING

FAMINE?

This is no “natural disaster.” Human-caused climate change has increased the frequency and severity of
droughts, decades of conflict have significantly eroded the country’s institutions, and the combined
damage to Somalia’s domestic food production have made the country dangerously reliant on imported
grains—specifically from Ukraine and Russia.

“If this severe drought persists, none of us will survive,” says 80-year-
old Hawo*. “The drought will sweep both the animals and the people.
Droughts are not new to me but to my experience, this is the worst I
have ever seen.”

“Aside from a protracted civil conflict, Somalia is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years,” says
Abdirashid Adan Mohamed, an IRC medical officer. “The drought has caused massive displacement,
localized famine, epidemic disease outbreaks and malnutrition.
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“
All of this is happening against the backdrop of a deteriorating social safety net
and a frail healthcare system. Together with my team, we’re working hard to
provide critical health services to vulnerable communities.

HUMANITARIAN RISKS IN 2023

> Hundreds of thousands at risk of starvation

While droughts occur periodically in East Africa, human-caused climate change
likely explains the duration and severity of the current crisis, which has devastated
crop production and made it near impossible for herders to find food for their
animals.
In just one year, the number of people in Somalia facing the highest levels of
extreme hunger has increased 91 percent. With poor rains forecast to persist into
2023, even more Somalis will be unable to access enough food.
Many will be forced to leave their homes to seek humanitarian assistance in urban
centers or across the border in Kenya and Ethiopia. Already at the end of 2022, 3
million people were internally displaced, and at least 20,000 Somalis had crossed
into Kenya.
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> Somalia is dangerously reliant on food imported from Russia and Ukraine.
Somalia now produces less than half as much food as it did before the country
collapsed into three decades of conflict.
Ongoing fighting and the climate crisis have left the country dangerously reliant on
imported food, with over 90 percent of wheat supplies coming from Russia and
Ukraine.
Record-high increases in the prices of staple crops on the global market have
made it even harder for Somalis to afford enough food for their families.

1.12 CONCLUSION
By understanding the impact of droughts in Somalia, we can work towards building resilience and ensuring a more
sustainable future for all.

Droughts are a natural disaster that nobody can stop from coming, but we can prepare for the effects of this natural
disaster to make it less difficult. There are many human and natural system impacts that this force of nature costs that
we should be aware of. There could be a drought happening at this very moment of time, or there could be one
heading our way right now which is why awareness is important

1.13 REFERENCES
1. RESCUE.ORG
2. IRC
3. Somalia.ion.int
4. HUMANITARIAN PRACTICE NETWORK(HPN)
5. NRC
6. Berghof Foundation
7. The Conversation Organization