Somalia: Resilience Challenge Between Dry and Wet Seasons

  

Somalia: Resilience Challenge Between Dry and Wet Seasons

 

Somalia is a country on the map of the Horn of Africa. It is the corner of the continent and surrounded by the Indian Ocean. The country, if not the first, has the second-longest coastline in the region (Africa). Similarly, the country has two long rivers; Juba and Shabelle which flow from Ethiopia ends until they merge with the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Somalia depends on two-sector of economic production; Agriculture and Livestock, People who live around the two rivers cultivate crops they take benefit from the water flow of the rivers and cultivate and farm agricultural crop production. Although some of the people residents in that area who are Agro farming, do both farming and livestock herding, the country is divided into two seasonal environments, northern and the Centre part of the country is semiarid and the population live there are most of the pastoralists, keep herding of camels and goats and few of sheep but the other parts cultivate and do farming crops and feed the rest of the country.  

The climate and weather of the country are falling under one season long, that’s summer, it is the sunny season most of the year. The rainy season is only counted into a few months but two rivers covered the rest of the dry seasons to cultivate and water for livestock. there are three rainy seasons, Gu’, Xagga, and Dayr. which most of the pastoralists and farmers counted and kept calendars in their minds. However, the climate seasons of the country have frequently been changing for the last 5-10 years, as was already known. Climate change has affected the country’s climate season, and things have changed the way they used to be. There are not enough rainy seasons for Gu, Xagga, and Dayr, it has transformed to dry in the wet seasons, the rivers have dried up due to low and insufficient raindrops which lowered the flow of the rivers. The dried rivers couldn’t help the farmers to get enough water to cultivate crop production, and this lowered domestic food production and enhanced foreign food substance imports. On the other hand, pastoralists suffer the dry seasons caused plants to dry up and there is no grass to feed their livestock and not enough water to drink. 

 

    

       Natural Shocks: Droughts and Floods 

 

According to the dictionary, Flooding is defined as an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. it can happen during heavy rains when ocean waves come onshore. And the publications of the Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist; Floods impact both individuals and communities and have social, economic, and environmental consequences. But it depends on the vulnerability and value of the natural and constructed environments they affect; on their location, duration, depth and speed. 

The country faced floods in late April. Heavy rainfall on 07 May 2021, caused severe flash flooding in Mogadishu, and the regions of Somalia. June in 2021, floods occurred in the Jowhar district, Middle Shabelle region, have displaced 66,000 people from 27 villages, destroyed more than 40,000 hectares of farmland, damaged 82 per cent of WASH infrastructures, UN OCHA said. In the Belet Weyne town in the Hiiraan Region, the floodings were also caused by river bond breakages that caused the displacement of nearly 22,000 households and destroyed 1,235 hectares of farmland.  

Other areas that floods severely affected include some of the districts in the Lower Jubba region of Buur Hakaba, Bu’aale, Jilib, Kismaayo, and Lower Shabelle Region. Afgooye, Marka and Banadir region as well. In the parts of the north of the country is reported that hundreds of people had also been displaced due to floods in Ceerigaabo and Hargeysa districts. UN OCHA reported that the humanitarian aid partners had scaled up assistance, to reach at least 82,000 affected people with life-saving assistance including food, water and sanitation, hygiene, health and shelter. (Somalia – 400,000 Affected by Floods says UN – FloodList)

The heavy rains that overflow the rivers break the bonds of the rivers and water flow into the cultivated area with crops and swept the farmed products, local farmers are too fragile and unable to protect their fields from the floods, which means that their hard-earned crops are easily destroyed by floods and the destroyed crops are the only food and vegetable sources for the community and therefore, there will be a shortage of food supply in the community which makes the shortage of food materials and that increases the cost of buying vegetables and food. The country has no strong relevant agricultural public institutions that can able to assess and forecast the weather and climate seasons that make it possible to protect lower severe impacts of natural shocks. 

 

 A drought is a period when an area or region experiences below-normal precipitation. The lack of adequate precipitation, either rain or snow, can cause reduced soil moisture or groundwater, diminished streamflow, crop damage, and a general water shortage. The National Centres For Environmental Informations has stated that the drought impacts come in a variety of forms. Examples of economic impacts include farmers who lose money because drought destroyed their crops or ranchers who may have to spend more money to feed and water their animals. In addition to the economy, drought also affects the environment and society. Plants and animals depend on water, just as people do. Drought can shrink their food supplies and damage their habitats. (DROUGHT: (noaa.gov))

In Somalia Context, drought in Somalia is affecting agriculture and livestock irrigation, pastoralists are being severely affected by water shortages and water scarcity, livestock is living off grazing and drinking water as they are living organisms. Somali WASH Cluster Reports that 2.6 million people in Somalia are facing water shortages due to severe drought conditions in Somalia, Water scarcity and drought conditions have contributed to increased water prices leading to displacements, diarrhoea-related morbidity and malnutrition in many parts of Somalia. The current worst affected regions include Gedo, Bay, Bakol, Lower Jubba, Galgadud, Mudug and parts of Bari, Nugaal, Sool, Sanaag, Togdheer, and Hiraan regions (reliefweb. Int, 2022)   

Furthermore, the intensifying drought has led to water shortages, crop failures, and high levels of livestock migration and deaths. This comes only two years after a devastating drought that impacted hundreds of thousands of lives, placed additional strain on communities, stretched the humanitarian response and displaced over 300,000 people, The drought is already having a devastating impact on the lives of Somalis. As of 17 December, more than 3.2 million people in 66 of the country’s 74 districts are affected by the drought; of whom 169,000 were displaced in search of water, food and pasture. The drought has been particularly harsh in Jubaland, Southwest and Galmudug states (central regions) and parts of Puntland. (reliefweb.int, 2022)

 

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, resilience refers to the capacity of the land to adapt, recover, and remain flexible to disturbances in terms of changing rainfall patterns while providing biomass (food, feed, fuel, fibre), maintaining its regulating functions and rendering ecosystem services. Gunderson and Holling (2001) define resilience as the capacity of a system to undergo disturbance and maintain its functions and controls. Soils of good quality are key to a resilient system, as the soil is the central link between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. 

However, to build resilience against drought and floods hence producing more food and fibre per drop of water, various strategies can be followed. Soil-water management practices lead to more water being conserved and thus reduce drought and flood risk, resulting in higher yields. Soil-water management is the way forward for alleviating rural poverty and improving the livelihoods of the rural poor. However, soil-water management alone will not solve all problems. There is a strong need for integrated management with genetic, natural resources and socio-economic components (Building Resilience Against Drought and Floods: The Soil-Water Management Perspective)

 

  

Conclusion

Somalia is a country of a post-conflict nation, and a lot of Economics and Political recoveries were put in place, Resilience is an important agenda for recovery of economic and environmental hazards, Somali people are twice a year become Locally displaced people, IDPs for sake of the environment Shocks. There have to be two major stakeholders that will contribute to an effective and efficient resilient system.

Public and Private Partnership; the domestic commitment and contribution from the local private sector is heavily supportive, the private organizations and local foundations have to create a Fund for resilient investment and pledge the budget.  Public institutions, the government agencies have to develop long term strategic plans for an effective resilience system also, a Budget and visibility study of a resilient system.

With donor and international Support, most of the funds are kept until the shocks occur and emergency response is declared, this is not the way forward for the country’s economic recovery and reforms. the Humanitarian funds have to transform into building a resilient stage, international aid partners have to work along with the national strategic plan.