THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE FAMINE IN SOUTHEREN SOMLIA

By Abdulkadir Suleiman

September 10, 2011

On 14 August 2011, United Nations officially declared a state of famine in five regions in Southern Somalia, where famine has affected approximately 3.2 million people in less than two decades. The scale of the drought has excessively been reported by both local and International news agencies and its images have aroused the feelings of many sympathizers from regional to high profile world leaders. Notably, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister has been most moved. Significant aid shipments have already been drawn to camps in Mogadishu, where internally displaced people or IDPs, are thronging and large local volunteer groups are handling them so as to properly secure the food as well as the vulnerable. But many more are still in desperate situation, deep in Southwestern rural districts.

However, what so far has not been widely addressed, of course, is the root cause of this deteriorating drought. Many commentators, columnists and reporters have academically analyzed the problem but still as a researcher of the issue, it seems to me that the immediate cause of this famine is yet to be addressed. I do not make the claim that somehow, my understanding of this issue is sounder than those who have already comprehensively gone through this rather preventable disaster that engulfed within its fury a chunk of the population. To the contrary, because I am linked to the affected drought region, I believe my voice will only solidify those reasons that have already been mentioned.

Although the reasons for the drought are multiple and even more reasons would likely emerge as soon as the famine takes root, I believe three important reasons to have the immediate cause of this ongoing starvation. The worst affected regions are the most productive lands in Southern Somalia and furthermore are capable of maintaining sustainable food reserves once they follow the traditional way of reserving, such as putting the cultivated crops in well-cleaned cages known as “Bakaaro” that can preserve harvested crops for about twelve months.

Unfortunately, what is presumable in the context of this drought is that the Agro-pastoralists of those regions have subconsciously abandoned that way of conservation. Furthermore, an external force has disrupted the process of cultivation in the same regions which produced fundamental upheavals in the traditional family way of establishments and as a result, formulated the three justifications that led to the immediate cause of this famine. The following are the three immediate reasons:

 Idaale War of 2006

Idaale populations are among the worst impacted by the ongoing drought. On December 2006, the Union of Islamic Courts in Somalia (UIC) and the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) headed by the then president Abdullahi Yusuf along with Ethiopian forces, heavily fought in the suburbs of Idaale that fall under the District of Dinsor. Due to the intensity of that war almost all the inhabitants of that area fled their homes leaving their farms uncultivated since then. In addition, a very significant number of Idaale residents especially those nearby Idaale areas didn’t return when the fighting ended and stayed just where they settled and lived with the families with whom they had received an extended welcome. Similarly, they feared that any explosive materials left behind during the war and surreptitiously lurking in the sand could have been a danger to their living conditions. Thus, they preferred not to jeopardize the lives of their kids as well as that of their livestock. Because the exceeded family numbers exhausted the existing food stores in the areas they fled to and as a result, the host and the hosted had, in the same way, augmented the man-made disaster. Worse than that had been experienced by those little families that returned to their homes when they got to know that a very large tract of their productive land had been burned during the war and thus became barren, like a semi-desert. The fighting not only expelled the agro-pastoralist people from their homes but also dreadfully damaged the environment which led to the desertification of meaningful hectares used otherwise for cultivation. The Islamists’ exchange of heavy Mortars and artilleries with Ethiopia’s armored vehicles destroyed many settlements in unimaginable ways.  Conceivably, the people who belonged to that area were supposed to search for better environments that could have been capable of supporting them but with the challenges and difficulties of their new location of refuge, instead, became victims of the current drought.

Farmers Recruited as Soldiers

Only women, children, and elders were left behind in the most affected areas of the drought. As son as Ethiopian army crossed the border, al-shabab embarked on a wide-scale recruitment of youths known as Mujahedeen in those areas. Most likely, rural youths can be easily influenced than those in urban because a modern man is an informed man; so al-shabab cautiously calculated that they can win the hearts of those in rural districts by buying them a “card” to heaven. As a result of this awkward extremist policy, a number of young men, especially those who were previously the sole supporters of their families, welcomed by the call from Al-shabab, decided to search for paradise under the authority of al-shabab.

With the young and the able-bodied heading to the battlefield, the elderly had no other alternatives but to take to the fields to till the lands-an impossible undertaking that bore little sustainable fruits. The evidence of this issue is clear by the remarks of al-shabab’s leader Sheikh Mukhtar Abu-Zubayr known as GODANE released by VOA on 14^th August when he acknowledged that some Somali tribes had fully participated in al-Shabab’s religious war. Godane said in an audio “Thanks to the clans of Hubeer and Likse whose armies’ contribution to the Mujahedeen is remarkable”. Both Hubeer and Likse tribes belong to the regions hit by the drought. Hubeer settles villages under Bay region while Likse belong to the Bakool region, which is the worst drought-affected area according to the UN report on the famine. So once the capable young men abandoned farming, children, women and the elderly were forced to seek livelihood at the mercy of well-wishers. 

Abandonment of stable crops

For the last two years most of the local farmers did not cultivate their conventional crops like Sorghum and Maize. According to well reputed figures among Somalis, including Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Umal who visited some settlements struck by the drought last month, many locals have stopped planting their well known crops. As the farmers told the committee, profiteering companies came to them and convinced them not to plant Maize and instead, they were encouraged to plant sesame under false promises. They convinced them that sesame is much more profitable than other crops because of its oil-rich seeds and thus will fetch more money at the market. Likewise, they promised the farmers that they would improve their deteriorating living conditions by drilling wells and setting up irrigation channels.

In comparison, cultivating Sorghum and Maize are much easier than sesame because the locals have no experience cultivating such sorts of seeds and never planted them before. Sesame is considered as drought tolerant because it grows best in moist soil that helps its growth. In addition, sesame cannot be stored for a long period of time as compared to the time-period other crops can be stored. It is planted only for its valuable oil but not as a stable food source. If the above-mentioned fake and deceptive companies had not misled them, the condition of these regions would have been different.

The three above reasons together have become catalyst for the ongoing drought in the country. However, the country is not defeated by the drought. It has endless natural resources that can supply not only the locals but the country as a whole if Somali people patriotically realize that their land is more naturally productive than that of Sweden, which has now become home for many Somali refugees. On the other hand, the TFG should realize that it is now time to make a turning point in the history of the country and help the drought victims responsively by securing the pattern of aid distribution. More diplomatic channels are opening right in front of the government day after day and it would be a great blunder for the current TFG leaders to lose this golden opportunity and undermine serving the drought victims massed in the capital.

For al-shabab, we have never heard any meaningful support that you have contributed to the drought victims; what is reported daily from your side is just disgusting and appalling news mainly created by the youths recruited from the worst-hit-areas of this ruthless famine. At the very least, what we expect from al-Shabab is to restrain its Mujahedeen and Amniyaat soldiers from continuous harassment of poor citizens living in squalid conditions in urban camps.

Abdulkadir Suleiman, MA

University of Karachi, Pakistan

Sabriye04@gmail.com




"Didiinglay dhamaateih"