Drought Leaves Up To 85% Of Somalia's Cropland Unproductive

The drought is largely due to the persistent lack of rainfall since last October that has left nearly 18 percent of the population in urgent need of food.

“A significant lack of rains in April and early May has rendered dry and barren up to 85 percent of the croplands in the country’s breadbaskets, and according to the latest projections, food grown during the “Gu” season is likely to be 50 percent below average,” Senior Economist at the FAO and lead of the Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), Mario Zappacosta said.
Although some rains are still expected this month June 2019), they will be insufficient and arrive too late for crop and pasture recovery before the onset of the dry season.

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As famine bites, thousands of Somalians abandon farms

by Lisa Schlein

A senior U.N. official says thousands of people in famine-stricken Somalia are abandoning their farms in search of assistance. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative for Kenya and Somalia warns this mass movement risks overwhelming international aid efforts, and says FAO is taking measures to try to keep people from leaving their land.

The FAO representative says the situation of drought and famine in Somalia is worsening. Luca Alinovi notes five regions in south and central Somalia have officially been declared famine zones, and he expects famine to spread to other regions.

He says an increasing number of farmers, desperate for food, are abandoning their farms and moving to overcrowded refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. Thousands of others have fled to the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Alinovi warns the situation will become simply unbearable in the coming weeks, if this mass movement of people continues.

“We see the camps expanding dramatically in Mogadishu and we see the people moving towards Afgooye in a quite dramatic phase," said Alinovi. "It is difficult to foresee exactly a number because the possibility is basically everybody who lives in that area moving out, which would be a disaster.”

Alinovi says a major concern is that once people leave their farms, they will not be able to go back because someone else will have taken over the farms they have abandoned. He notes the next planting season is in October, just two months from now, and says it’s important the farmers remain on the land so they can be productive.

He says that FAO has a strategy for doing just that. He says the only way to keep people on the farm is to enlist them into cash-for-work programs. This will provide them with money to help them maintain their irrigation systems, have access to markets, and work their own fields.

“And, in September, latest early October, provide them with seeds, tools and any kind of support that is needed to go back to farming because most of these people have lost their…most of their assets, which do not allow them to access decent seeds, decent fertilizer and a possibility to produce," said Alinovi. "So, if they know that the package includes immediate cash support for cash for work activities and, at the same time, the possibility to have access to inputs at the beginning of the season, that will give them the possibility to continue to farm.”

Alinovi says immediate cash relief must be given to those people who are too weak to farm so they too will remain on the land. And, once they become stronger and able to work, he says they too should be offered the opportunity to be part of the cash-for-work scheme.

The FAO official says the goal of the plan is to make these people believe they can continue their lives where they are. If the international relief response is targeted only to selected areas, he says, people will be forced to migrate to these places.

Alinovi says the FAO has received up to 70 percent support in pledges for its $70 million appeal. He says the agency could persuade a lot Somalis to stay on their farms if these pledges were translated into money in the bank.

VOA News

Tanzania donates maize to Somalia

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete on 9 August said his country was donating 300MT of maize to drought-affected Somalis.

"We are deeply concerned with reports of severe famine in the Horn of Africa, where Somalia is hardest hit," Kikwete said in a statement issued after he met Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, President of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government. Ahmed was in Tanzania for a two-day state visit. Kikwete said he would support Somalia in solving political, security, social and economic challenges facing the country.

Kikwete said: "We wish we could have given you more because we understand the magnitude of the problem and your needs. At present that is what we can manage since the harvesting season has just started. We are going to look at the possibility of giving more food support in the future."

He said he would lead the campaign to mobilize relief supplies to Somalia from international organizations, other governments and the private sector in his country. "We will ask various friendly countries, organizations and local firms engaged in bottling water to deliver relief supplies to Somalia," Kikwete said.

IRIN

Ban on Somali livestock by Saudi Arabia lifted

by Konye Obaji Ori

Somalia’s livestock-based economy has received a major boost as its major market, Saudi Arabia lifts its 11 year ban on imported livestock from Somalia. The lift comes after many Somali farmers suffered from the severe east African droughts that dried the soil and dehydrated livestock to death. Last month, a U.S. based NGO embarked on a project that saw some 2000 families in the autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, from livestock supplies.

"The livestock still hasn’t recovered from the 2005 drought. And already we have to confront a new drought. The drought cycle is getting shorter and shorter - every three or four years instead of every 10," a district veterinary official was quoted as saying by local reporters.

Saudi Arabia banned the import of sheep, goats and cattle from Somalia to prevent the spread of Rift Valley fever, but after 11 years, the ban has been lifted. According to Somaliland Interior Minister Ismail Adam Osman, the ban has caused a great suffering to Somaliland whose economy depended mainly on livestock export.

The Saudi agricultural ministry said the decision is based on years of cross examination and monitoring of animal farms in Somalia.

Animal farmers and business leaders have welcomed the decision with extensive jubilation. Pastoralists and traders now prepare to profit from increased demand for livestock in the forthcoming Eid al-Adha festival when Muslims demand for livestock is high, following the traditional sacrifice of an animal.

The lifting of the ban was announced in a press statement from the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry said the lifting came to secure supplies of livestock at reasonable prices to locals and pilgrims during the upcoming Eid Al-Adha and the Hajj season. It emphasized the Ministry would strictly enforce animal health legislation and scan all imported live animals for possible diseases.

"This is a tremendous decision for Somalis across the Horn of Africa," said Idiris Ibrahim Abdi, the livestock minister of Somaliland.

The Puntland Meat Processing Authority told reporters that they expect to export more than half a million herds of goats and cattle to Saudi Arabia in time for the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage, which will be performed by early December.

According to experts, the self-declared republic of Somaliland is expected to achieve major economic gains from the reopened Saudi market. In Somaliland, were political stability provides farmers with predictable conditions, a boost in livestock production and an export is easily manageable.

Afrik.com

Efforts to revive Somali banana production underway

Tribal warfare, insecurity, poverty, drought and pirate-infested waters are just a few of the things that spring to mind at the mention of Somalia. For almost two decades, the country has endured civil unrest and an ineffective government, leaving a high proportion of the population suffering from chronic food shortages and malnutrition.

And yet, prior to 1991, Somalia was renowned for its thriving banana industry and was the largest exporter in East Africa. At its peak, Somali banana production reached 12,000 hectares, employing over 120,000 people. The banana business flourished: with more than two-thirds of production being of export quality, it supplied markets in Europe, especially Italy, and the Persian Gulf. The onset of civil war in the early 1990s saw banana production decline although the export sector was partially revived between 1993-97.

Exports ceased completely in late-1997 as a result of devastating El-Niño floods and loss of preferential access to European markets, amongst other factors, although interest in Somali bananas from Middle East markets has remained strong.

To provide insight into the opportunities and constraints in reviving the Somali banana sector, CEFA - an Italian NGO - has implemented an EC-funded project to review past and current banana production, as well as conducting consumer and business-to-business research in the Middle East.

With increasing private sector and donor interest in rehabilitating banana production and exports, the SAMSAM (Support to Agricultural Marketing Services and Access to Markets) project has provided important insights, including predictions on market share and potential prices, cost-benefit analysis, ascertaining areas for improvement and identifying local and international leaders involved in the banana market chain willing to implement the research findings.

Somali bananas are favoured for their sweet taste and creamy texture credit: Edward Baars
Some of the SAMSAM findings (pdf 67kb) indicated that Somali bananas, though small, are particularly favoured for their sweet taste and creamy texture; in the UAE, a recent market survey ranked Somali bananas in first place and, in Iran, the Somali banana (known here as Somalita) is popular in main and side dishes as well as milkshakes and ice cream.

In sharing the report findings and through its attempts to identify private sector operators capable of reviving Somali exports, SAMSAM succeeded in catching the attention of Mehrdad Radseresht. Son of an Iranian diplomat, ex-managing director for Dole Foods in Somalia and involved in the export sector up until 1997, Mehrdad has retained his faith in the potential for Somalia to export bananas. Empathising with his vision, Mehrdad's colleague, Abdulkadir Hersi Ismail, says that it his belief that "banana can be the 'peace fruit' where all clans come together to plant banana for common benefits."

Banana production is concentrated in the south of Somalia, where an ingenious system of barrages and dams provides over 130,000 ha with access to 'gravity irrigation' from river water from the Ethiopian highlands. Unlike bananas grown elsewhere in East Africa, Somali bananas suffer from no major pests or diseases and the riverine soil is rich in nutrients. Around 3,000 ha are currently under banana cultivation providing a year-round local supply, but Mehrdad believes that with increased support, greater production would be possible. "Farmers need a market to sustain and improve their production and increase their incomes," he stresses.

In order to increase production, farmers need access to a range of inputs credit. Much needs to be done to provide the necessary inputs and infrastructure for a sustained revival. Farmers need not only fuel, fertilisers and nematode control but also help to rehabilitate irrigation canals and stand-by pumps to supplement gravity irrigation. Feeder roads are also in need of repair, although these should be renewed under ongoing development projects in the region.

The first step in providing more support to farmers is just one shipment away. A cargo ship loaded with fertilisers, packaging cartons and tools destined for Mogadishu is, at the time of writing, docked in the Middle East. Whilst the ship has been delayed due to fears of running the gauntlet with Somali pirates, in the meantime, farmers are being made aware of the impending arrival of inputs and tools. Once the ship has unloaded in Mogadishu, it will continue to sail between Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya, and Mogadishu, ferrying food aid, and commodities such as sesame and fish, until the first bananas are ready for export to the Middle East later in 2009.

Sailing through Somali waters is currently unpredictable and it is difficult to foresee how smooth the passage for banana production and exports will be. But CEFA is hopeful of success as a similar project with sesame has recently reaped rewards and has successfully demonstrated how a development project can collaborate with the private sector in improving an important cash crop for Somalia.

New Agriculturalist

The risky but lucrative livestock trade in East Africa

Recent reports of Rift Valley Fever in Kenya have cast a shadow over the whole East African livestock trade. In the weeks after the news spread, traders say Yemeni and other Middle East middlemen refused to take Ethiopian animals, even though the disease has so far not appeared in the Horn of Africa nation. Other dealers agreed to take the animals, but at much lower prices.

The disruption came on top of a long running Saudi Arabian ban on the import of Ethiopian animals, again based on fears over livestock health. Ethiopian bulls, sheep and goats still regularly get through to Saudi Arabia, but via Yemeni traders who again use the ban as an excuse for keeping purchase prices down.

The risks do not stop there. There are the droughts and floods that hit the region on an increasingly regular basis, destroying livestock and pasture in their wake. Roaming sheep and goats can fall prey to hyenas and other predators. And there is always the possibility of getting caught up in inter-clan clashes, banditry and the growing conflict between Ethiopian government troops and the separatist forces of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Prices can also fluctuate widely from market to market and week to week, according to the demand from the Middle East and local trading conditions, threatening thin profit margins. "We hope to make between US$15 and US$20 a bull. Sometimes you have to take a loss," said Arab Muhomed Guled, another Hartishekh trader with 10 years experience under his belt. The price of cows in Jijiga market ranged from 1,470 Birr all the way up to 2,500 Birr in January 2007, according to figures gathered by the government's Livestock Crop and Natural Resource Development Bureau in the town.

The reason that traders persevere in the face of so many risks is simple. The risks may be high, but the scale of the potential trade is higher still.

The sheer size of the region's livestock trade is often masked by inaccurate Ethiopian government figures that only count the legally-registered movement of animals beyond the country's borders. According to official statistics, Ethiopia as a whole only exported 41,565 animals from 2003/4. But according to a soon-to-be-published report from UN OCHA-PCI, more than 400,000 animals were exported, mostly "informally", through just two Somali region markets in 2005.

UN OCHA-PCI researchers estimate that as many as 100,000 bulls may be leaving Ethiopia's Somali region every year, bringing in, on average, 3,750 birr (US$420) a head. Taking the same journey with them are up to 3 million sheep and goats, each worth around 360 Birr (US$40) to Yemeni traders.

UN OCHA-PCI's Abdi Umar does the sums. "That's about US$162m in revenue split between the 5 million people we estimate benefit from Somali Region’s livestock production. The traders are only taking a small margin but the pastoralists can make a lot on each animal.

Somali region traders also do all they can to minimise the daily risks they face. Large herds are split into smaller units as they move across borders to limit their exposure to customs officials and other natural disasters. Animals are handed over to well-trusted agents, bound to the seller by long years of friendship or clan allegiance.

Traders are also starting to minimise the risk of customs seizure by going legal, taking advantage of the first letters of credit schemes set up with local banks just three years ago. "Now I don't have to stay awake at night wondering if my animals are getting through," said exporter Mahamoud Gass Qalinle. Wherever possible, traders make use of the latest communications technology – either mobile phones or high-frequency radio sets known as fonios – to get a jump on changes on market conditions.

"I can stand in the middle of Jijiga market with my mobile phone and find out when there is a boat waiting in Berbera," said Basha Hassan Hussein another legally-registered exporter. "I can find out whether the demand is highest for cows or bulls or shoats (sheep and goats)."

Meskel Square

Israeli camel expert trains Ethiopian breeders

An Israeli professor renowned for his expertise in breeding camels has been invited by the Ethiopian government to share his knowledge with African farmers.

Professor Reuven Yagil's mission started near Ethiopia's border with Somalia where he held a workshop for local breeders of the humped desert creature. Muslim Somalis living in Ethiopia were eager to meet Yagil whose knowledge of camels they deemed crucial for their nomadic lifestyle.

During his stay, Yagil will teach nomadic farmers and veterinaries camel and goat breeding methods. His breeding methods were so successful that he set up a factory specializing in making ice-cream from camel milk. He wants to help Ethiopia set up a camel farm for milk production along the border with Somalia, where he estimates 1 million camels live.

Business Day

Growing demand for Kenya's khat stimulant, despite controversy

Traditionally used in the same way as coffee, the stimulant khat, like coffee, is widely believed to have originated from Ethiopia. And as once with coffee, the mildly narcotic khat is at the centre of a moral debate. Islamic rulers in Somalia recently banned its use.

This led Kenya, Somalia's biggest supplier, to stop all flights to its neighbour, sparking street protests in Mogadishu and triggering concern among khat growers and traders in Kenya, who saw exports drop by 40 per cent. Flights have now resumed, but exports to Somalia have not returned to business as usual.

In the US, khat is illegal, classified as a Class 1 narcotic drug. But rapid, inexpensive air transport has now made the drug available to Somali expatriates in there and in Europe. In July 2006, the US Drug Enforcement Agency carried out an operaration targeting an international khat smuggling ring which had imported more than 25 tons of khat, estimated to be worth over US$10 million.

But khat's illegal status is contested.Kimathi Munjuri of the organisation NYAMITA, which represents khat growers in Kenya, is convinced that the crop is destined to be an international product, "not just as a stimulant much milder than alcohol and tobacco, but also for inherent, cultural values." Also known in Kenya as miraa, khat (Catha edulis) is native to East Africa, and has been cultivated as a stimulant for centuries. Those who take khat in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsular chew the leaves and young twigs, a tradition which pre-dates the drinking of coffee. Less frequently, it is also dried and consumed as tea.

In Kenya, khat has semi-legal status, but this has not stopped farmers from cultivating the crop. In fact, khat cultivation is currently expanding into new areas outside the traditional growing area of Meru, near Mount Kenya. For some years the falling price of coffee has led farmers to pull up their coffee bushes in despair. Many are now turning to khat, which is not only easier to
grow, but can be harvested twice a year and brings in an income that is five times higher than coffee. The trade has greatly contributed to development in the district of Meru, and local farmers are calling for the status of khat to be formalised.

While agricultural extension officers may turn a blind eye to khat cultivation, no record is kept of production or income earned and no advice is provided on growing the crop. But farmers have begun to adapt management techniques they have learnt for other crops, as revealed in a recent case study of farmer innovation by Geoffrey Kamau from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). Such techniques include budding, grafting and air layering for propagation. "They have also used other techniques to control pests," says Kamau. "For example, to control the most serious pest, chafer grubs, they bury avocado fruit around the base of the khat plant to attract red ants which feed on the pest."

Consumer preferences have also influenced farming and marketing practice. Khat enthusiasts, who represent a growing local market, report that the leaves are best chewed fresh, within two days of picking, when the plant still contains high levels of cathinone, a natural chemical similar to amphetamines. Many farmers have learnt to avoid applying pesticides, or to apply them a number of days before the crop is harvested, because the taste is undesirable. "Their farming practices are in direct response to consumer demand," says Kamau, adding, "It is interesting to see that other crops are getting the back seat. Farmers are concentrating on khat, which is giving them an income that they are not getting from traditional cash crops."

Despite its status as a semi-legal crop, khat supports not only the farmers who grow it, but all of those who rely on the local business that it generates. The commodity brings traders into town, benefiting hotel owners, transport dealers, even market women selling bananas to passers-by. And while the future of the Somali khat trade remains uncertain, in Kenya at least, it is thriving. According to Kimathi Munjuri, "It is just a matter of a little more targeted effort by NYAMITA and the Kenyan government, and the crop will enjoy its due position."

And despite the lack of intervention to encourage farmers to cultivate the crop, farmers are showing an enterprising spirit. As Geoffrey Kamau comments, "The most interesting thing is that the cultivation, the marketing, and the whole organisational issue around this particular crop, could provide lessons to farmers growing other crops."

New Agriculturalist