Lably
Skip to content

Agriculture in Somalia

  • 13 min read
  • 4 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Gross domestic product, Asia and Europe

Lab · Class 5–9History ExplorerLab · Class 10Nationalism EuropeLab · Class 10French RevolutionLab · Class 11Nomadic Medieval

History

Civilian Era 1960-1969

A U.S. Peace Corps volunteer who worked closely with the pre-1969 government's Ministry of Agriculture wrote in his memoir that the Somali ministry of agriculture was effectively a “non-virtual entity,” describing it as taking no meaningful interest in the advancement of Somali agriculture despite the presence of capable individuals who could have driven progress but showed little inclination to do so.

"From my personal vantage point as a volunteer in the bush, the Ministry has proved to be a virtual nonentity—and a very poorly organized and inefficient non-entity at that. During my four months in Gorisane, for example, the local agriculture agent deigned to show up a total of three days, during which time his activity was limited to drinking tea in his pal's mundul."

Barre era 1969-1991

In the early 1970s, the CIA issued a special assessment of Somalia's economy, describing the task facing the new government as a “Herculean task” given the country's arid terrain, limited resources, and largely undeveloped economy, in which most of its 2.8 million people relied on nomadic herding and subsistence agriculture for their livelihood. The report attributed this difficult starting position in part to the civilian era's development programs, which it characterised as inefficiently administered, having accomplished little beyond giving Somalia a reputation for squandering foreign aid.

Addressing the country's resource constraints, the Barre government adopted seawater desalination technology developed in 1964 by Ukrainian-Israeli chemist Alexander Zarchin. This method, which removed salt particles from seawater, was adapted by Barre's government in the early 1970s, leading to the construction of a desalination plant that expanded access to clean water and irrigation. Barre identified reducing the disparity between northern and southern Somalia as a central goal of his agricultural policy, alongside broader programs to combat overgrazing and boost food production. In 1973, government ministers were dispatched to Gabiley in north-western Somalia to instruct local communities on the importance and methods of improved food production.

These efforts contributed to substantial gains over the following decade: sorghum production rose 87 percent, from an average of 139,000 tons in the 1970s to 260,000 tons by 1985, while maize production increased 162 percent over the same period, from 107,000 tons to 280,000 tons, leaving Somalia largely self-sufficient in both crops. A UNICEF report from the period found that levels of absolute poverty and malnutrition in Somalia appeared markedly lower than in most other low-income sub-Saharan African economies, and noted no evidence of secular deterioration in these conditions over time.

Under Barre, Somalia achieved caloric self-sufficiency. The country reached a per capita calorie availability of more than 2,800 calories per day, with 69 percent of total calories supplied by domestically produced food. Agricultural productivity was notably high by African standards. Somali farmers could produce enough food to meet their own needs while generating a surplus to support one additional non-farming person. Although farmers made up only about one-third of the population, they produced enough surplus to sustain a substantial non-agricultural population.

Experts highlighted this as exceptional in Africa. In contrast, many other African countries at the time had agricultural sectors in which farmers constituted three-quarters or more of the population, yet their output frequently failed to adequately feed the remaining non-farming quarter of society.

"In 1984, two Somali farmers managed to produce enough of a surplus to feed one non-farmer. While this may not seem enormous, the same cannot be said for many other African countries. The relevant point here is that in Somalia farmers comprise only around one-third of the total population whereas in most other African countries they form three-quarters or more. Those three-quarters have gradually lost their capacity to feed the remaining one-quarter non-farmers. In Somalia a much smaller farm population not only feeds itself but produces a surplus large enough to feed a sizeable part of the non-farm population. Thus if Somalia is food-deficient on the whole, and has to import food, it is not because the farmers fail to produce enough for themselves, but because the nomads who comprise the majority of the population fail to do so."

The government's largest infrastructure undertaking in this period was the Fanole Dam, built with Chinese technical assistance. Construction began in 1977 and was completed in 1982; the project created thousands of jobs for Somalis and supplied electricity to southern Somalia.

Sign in to keep reading

3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Agriculture

United States Department of AgricultureDepartment of the US governmentCT scanMedical imaging procedurePesticideSubstance used to control pestsLivestockAnimals kept to produce material goodsFood and Agriculture OrganizationSpecialized agency of the United NationsCultivarPlant or grouping of plants selected for desirable characteristics