Somali's GDP per Capita is false

[Idilinaa]

I used to look down on focusing on food processing manufacturing. But honestly its probably the smartest thing to do.

If we had a couple fish and livestock processing plants we could easily do massive numbers. Especially fish. Since the blue economy stuff if were being honest has way more potenial than livestock. Since the livestock somalis focus on goat,sheep,camel is really a niche market which is the arab world.

Livestock has great wealth-generating potential than we often realize. Instead of exporting animals wholesale, we can process them into a wide range of industrial goods — leather, plastics, cosmetics, medicines, fertilizers, and more.

Just from dairy alone: milk and dairy products generated $6 billion domestically in 2016.

And it's already starting , beyond milk and dairy processors, Somalia has begun opening meat processing plants and modern slaughterhouses.

We shouldn't export livestock at all in my opinion in large numbers, this is why in recent years livestock export has slowed down due to processing facilities, canning companies and slaughter houses and tanning facilities that have been opened up. So we are starting to see that transition away from it happening now.

Somali Meat Company , Mogadishu, Banadir, Somalia | Kulmie Business Directory

About Somali Meat Company Somali Meat Company (SOMEAT) is privately owned by group of meat exporters and theoretically was established in 1995 for the mission of producing & exporting quality wholesome, and disease-free meat, which is fit for huma

www.kulmie.com

But fish can also be extremely lucrative if we scale production of it,

And i almost forgot the large fish processing plant they are building in Garcad

I wonder how far they come with the construction..

It looks like people actually realized how much potential there was in these fisheries

View attachment 363599

Check my posts about this:

Somalia Fishing

Won’t be much left with all these sales and MOU

www.somalispot.com

From 2017 and 2025 they have built extensive cold chain infrastructure across the Somali coast and storage/processing facilities, plants, started to invest in fish farms and they have also opened up shops to sell them locally as well in the major cities , not just exports so the revenue numbers is probably in the hundreds of millions now.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

I used to look down on focusing on food processing manufacturing. But honestly its probably the smartest thing to do.

If we had a couple fish and livestock processing plants we could easily do massive numbers. Especially fish. Since the blue economy stuff if were being honest has way more potenial than livestock. Since the livestock somalis focus on goat,sheep,camel is really a niche market which is the arab world.

@Idilinaa Explained on another thread how Somali waters were especially blessed with marine life. I don't know how the fishery industry is doing tho, I've only seen this site :

https://twitter.com/dhoorebbc/status/1854541357294977169

https://x.com/ForestPasture/status/1924623024776778168

Also the fish market in Somalia is probably only relevant in Banadir, other states should take example on Galmudug and raise awareness on the benefits of a sanitary fishing industry :

https://x.com/dhoorebbc/status/1868327217815789943

 

[Barkhadle1520]

It looks like people actually realized how much potential there was in these fisheries

View attachment 363599

Wow I did not know the Mogadishu economic zone was gonna be this big. When is construction scheduled to start ? If my memory serves me right it should be at the same time as the new airport right ?

 

[Barkhadle1520]

They need build a law that limits foreign ownership imo from foreign investments and makes it so that they hire and train only locals, reinvest the profit as well.

But it's good that they are now beginning to recognize public-private partnerships and pushing to increase this.

It's good to see that the Gov is serious about their 5 year plan, many projects have already been started and are ongoing.

 

[Midas]

Its kinda incredible it grew that much even though half those 5 years was in the pandemic.

 

[Idilinaa]

While I think it's exaggerated you must take into account the millions of somalis who live in baadiye or tuulos. How much urban vs rural population do we have? I'm quite sure folks living in some far away village in Galmudug or Sanaag don't have 5k per capita and they'll bring the figure down. Consider that at least half of our population lives in smaller cities/tuulos and baadiye.

People tend to assume that rural populations, those in tuulos or baadiye, are poor or disconnected from the wider economy, but that's not accurate. These communities are producers, not dependents. They're actively tied into urban markets through the sale of livestock, milk, crops, and other goods.

For example this in Galmudug they earned 20 dollars a day selling milk which is like 600 dollars a month and thats 7.200 per year.

Which is about the same earnings in other rural villages in Somalia as they used to earn 500-700$ per month selling milk to local markets. Now they earn 3.200 per month under cooperatives.

Milk Cooperative — SomReP

Ceelsame milk cooperative is one of the cooperatives established and supported by World Vision under DFAT Project. Ceelsame consists of 30 members who are mainly women and it is operational in Ceel-same village under Odweyne District.

www.somrep.org

Galmudug farmers used to earn up to 350-2000 dollar a month selling crops until the drought happened which their farms are recovering from it

So when people hear 'per capita $5,000' and imagine some villager in Sanaag or Galgaduud, they’re missing how income is generated and circulated. Many rural households generate income and are economically linked to cities. The figure isn’t suggesting everyone makes $5,000 evenly, just that, across the whole economy, that’s the average share. Like any country, there’s income disparity. But we shouldn’t underestimate the real productivity happening in rural areas.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

People tend to assume that rural populations, those in tuulos or baadiye, are poor or disconnected from the wider economy, but that's not accurate. These communities are producers, not dependents. They're actively tied into urban markets through the sale of livestock, milk, crops, and other goods.

For example this in Galmudug they earned 20 dollars a day selling milk which is like 600 dollars a month and thats 7.200 per year.
View attachment 363604

Which is about the same earnings in other rural villages in Somalia as they used to earn 500-700$ per month selling milk to local markets. Now they earn 3.200 per month under cooperatives.

Milk Cooperative — SomReP

Ceelsame milk cooperative is one of the cooperatives established and supported by World Vision under DFAT Project. Ceelsame consists of 30 members who are mainly women and it is operational in Ceel-same village under Odweyne District.

www.somrep.org

View attachment 363606

Galmudug farmers used to earn up to 350-2000 dollar a month selling crops until the drought happened which their farms are recovering from it

So when people hear 'per capita $5,000' and imagine some villager in Sanaag or Galgaduud, they’re missing how income is generated and circulated. Many rural households generate income and are economically linked to cities. The figure isn’t suggesting everyone makes $5,000 evenly, just that, across the whole economy, that’s the average share. Like any country, there’s income disparity. But we shouldn’t underestimate the real productivity happening in rural areas.

I've been saying this forever wAllahi. Nomads are literally more taajir than most of us, my awowe AUN owned at least 30k$ worth of camels and an immense amount of cattle.

Reer Koonfur just getting nerfed by drought. I think the nomads that loose all their camels and cattle should just be converted to agriculturalists.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

5

People tend to assume that rural populations, those in tuulos or baadiye, are poor or disconnected from the wider economy, but that's not accurate. These communities are producers, not dependents. They're actively tied into urban markets through the sale of livestock, milk, crops, and other goods.

For example this in Galmudug they earned 20 dollars a day selling milk which is like 600 dollars a month and thats 7.200 per year.
View attachment 363604

Which is about the same earnings in other rural villages in Somalia as they used to earn 500-700$ per month selling milk to local markets. Now they earn 3.200 per month under cooperatives.

Milk Cooperative — SomReP

Ceelsame milk cooperative is one of the cooperatives established and supported by World Vision under DFAT Project. Ceelsame consists of 30 members who are mainly women and it is operational in Ceel-same village under Odweyne District.

www.somrep.org

View attachment 363606

Galmudug farmers used to earn up to 350-2000 dollar a month selling crops until the drought happened which their farms are recovering from it

So when people hear 'per capita $5,000' and imagine some villager in Sanaag or Galgaduud, they’re missing how income is generated and circulated. Many rural households generate income and are economically linked to cities. The figure isn’t suggesting everyone makes $5,000 evenly, just that, across the whole economy, that’s the average share. Like any country, there’s income disparity. But we shouldn’t underestimate the real productivity happening in rural areas.

5000$ GDP per Capita sounds like a crazy amount until you realize it's per year, if divided by 12 that's around 400$ a month which is very low by global & (arguably) Somali standards.

Definitely believable.

 

[Idilinaa]

@Idilinaa Explained on another thread how Somali waters were especially blessed with marine life. I don't know how the fishery industry is doing tho, I've only seen this site :

https://twitter.com/dhoorebbc/status/1854541357294977169

https://x.com/ForestPasture/status/1924623024776778168

Also the fish market in Somalia is probably only relevant in Banadir, other states should take example on Galmudug and raise awareness on the benefits of a sanitary fishing industry :

https://x.com/dhoorebbc/status/1868327217815789943

They have built fish markets and cold chain infrastructure in parts of Somalia land and Puntland

Cold chain in Somaliland makes fishing more lucrative

A growing number of people from nomadic regions and unemployed youth in Somaliland are turning to fishing as a livelihood after the government installed solar-powered cold storage facilities in six…

somalilandstandard.com

They are building modern fish markets with Sanitation and indoor cold storage facilities.

They opened one in Galkacyo back in 2018

Milestone: opening of three FairFishing facilities in Puntland – Fair Fishing

They are looking to build a modern market in Bosaso

Puntland is building a new market for its fishermen - Best news channels in Mogadishu | Best news channels in Somalia | News channels in Mogadishu

Bosaso: The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Puntland, Abdirisak Abdulahi Hagaa, met on 28th April with a team of experts from EDCONS, a

mogadishu24.com

They also built a fish market in Erigavo

Erigavo's first fish market officially opened

somalilanddevelopmentfund.org

Connecting fish producers and processors: networking event in Erigavo

somalilanddevelopmentfund.org

and in addition to built a new Jetty in Maydh to boost fisheries in Sanaag.

 

[Idilinaa]

I've been saying this forever wAllahi. Nomads are literally more taajir than most of us, my awowe AUN owned at least 30k$ worth of camels and an immense amount of cattle.

Reer Koonfur just getting nerfed by drought. I think the nomads that loose all their camels and cattle should just be converted to agriculturalists.

Most of the ones in Galmudug and Waaqoyi galbeed seem to be agro-pastoralists they move fluid to either one but combine both farming and herding to boost income even. They are not full time pastoralists and they are not nomads either(hardly anyone is nowadays) live settled life and keep a herd in open grazing lands near their home.

They have expanded agriculture a lot in Galmudug and it has yielded significant productivity. There is a thread that documents this achievement.

Galmudug’s Farms and Progress towards self sufficiency

Galmudug markets rarely ever import food from hiiran and both Shabelle regions anymore. Local farms in Galmudug for the past few years with the support of Galmudug’s ministry of agriculture and projects sponsored by donors/World bank,etc, managed to grow all sorts of crop ranging from onions...

www.somalispot.com

 

[Barkhadle1520]

They have built fish markets and cold chain infrastructure in parts of Somalia land and Puntland

Cold chain in Somaliland makes fishing more lucrative

A growing number of people from nomadic regions and unemployed youth in Somaliland are turning to fishing as a livelihood after the government installed solar-powered cold storage facilities in six…

somalilandstandard.com

They are building modern fish markets with Sanitation and indoor cold storage facilities.



They opened one in Galkacyo back in 2018

Milestone: opening of three FairFishing facilities in Puntland – Fair Fishing

They are looking to build a modern market in Bosaso

Puntland is building a new market for its fishermen - Best news channels in Mogadishu | Best news channels in Somalia | News channels in Mogadishu

Bosaso: The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Puntland, Abdirisak Abdulahi Hagaa, met on 28th April with a team of experts from EDCONS, a

mogadishu24.com

They also built a fish market in Erigavo

Erigavo's first fish market officially opened

somalilanddevelopmentfund.org

Connecting fish producers and processors: networking event in Erigavo

somalilanddevelopmentfund.org

and in addition to built a new Jetty in Maydh to boost fisheries in Sanaag.

View attachment 363607

I swear you pull these sources out of thin air cause how have I never seen this, keep up the good work wll.

Also with this growing fishing, I can't help but ask, are the Somali coast guard prepared to protect them ?? Last I checked they only had less than 5 simple patrol boats donated by Turkey and canceled their orders for those 6 Romanian long-range patrol vessels.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/sea/sea-sea/somalia-defaults-on-coast-guard-vessels/

I can't help but think about this after seeing a video earlier today on a Bossaso fisherman talking about how Yemeni, Iranian & Chinese fishing boats were bullying Somali fishermen and stealing all their kaloon, if the Somali Navy/Coast guards can't even protect Fishermen today what makes us think they could defend more ?

 

[Idilinaa]

I swear you pull these sources out of thin air cause how have I never seen this, keep up the good work wll.

Also with this growing fishing, I can't help but ask, are the Somali coast guard prepared to protect them ?? Last I checked they only had less than 5 simple patrol boats donated by Turkey and canceled their orders for those 6 Romanian long-range patrol vessels.

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/sea/sea-sea/somalia-defaults-on-coast-guard-vessels/

View attachment 363610

I can't help but think about this after seeing a video earlier today about a Bossaso fisherman talking about how Yemeni, Iranian & Chinese fishing boats were bullying Somalia fishermen and stealing all their kaloon, if the Somali Navy/Coast guards can't even protect Fishermen today what makes us think they could defend more ?

I have shared them in other threads thats why and i am collecting as many articles, pdfs as i can into folders.

We have the Puntland maritime police and Somaliland coast guards for the time being

Somaliland coast guards nab illegal fishing trawler with 13 Yemeni fishermen

In an operation that lasted twelve hours, the Somaliland Coast Guard at the Zeyla station managed to apprehend an illegal foreign fishing trawler with 13 fishermen. An officer who spoke for the Som…

somalilandstandard.com

The trawlers launch attacks at local communities and regularly get apprehended by local law enforcers but they exploited a security gap when most deviated towards the red seas due to the Houthis to resume again and now the Puntland coast guards are occupied with trying block ISIS smuggling

The last batch of Somali Coast Guards returned from training in 2023 and the last i read of it they were doing joint operation with EU worships to build capacity to clamp down on illegal fishing.

Somali Coast Guard and EU Warship Conduct Joint Maritime Operation to Strengthen Maritime Law Enforcement

The Somali Police Coast Guard, in collaboration with the SANTA MARIA F-81 warship from the European Union's Atalanta mission, successfully

www.radiodalsan.com

According to a statement from the Somali Police, the Coast Guard is now better equipped to handle emergencies and combat illegal fishing, which has long been a major issue in the region, with foreign vessels often accused of exploiting Somali waters without permission.

The Somali government has committed to continuing these efforts in the coming months, aiming to build the capacity of its coast guard and naval forces while tackling the threat posed by illegal activities in its waters.

The success of today’s operation demonstrates the progress Somalia is making in securing its maritime borders and strengthening its capacity for sustainable maritime governance.

As the Somali coast guard continues to receive training and support, the country is hopeful that these efforts will lead to long-term improvements in maritime security, benefitting local communities, fisheries, and national sovereignty.

Hopefully this spells long term improvement.

 

[Som]

People tend to assume that rural populations, those in tuulos or baadiye, are poor or disconnected from the wider economy, but that's not accurate. These communities are producers, not dependents. They're actively tied into urban markets through the sale of livestock, milk, crops, and other goods.

For example this in Galmudug they earned 20 dollars a day selling milk which is like 600 dollars a month and thats 7.200 per year.
View attachment 363604

Which is about the same earnings in other rural villages in Somalia as they used to earn 500-700$ per month selling milk to local markets. Now they earn 3.200 per month under cooperatives.

Milk Cooperative — SomReP

Ceelsame milk cooperative is one of the cooperatives established and supported by World Vision under DFAT Project. Ceelsame consists of 30 members who are mainly women and it is operational in Ceel-same village under Odweyne District.

www.somrep.org

View attachment 363606

Galmudug farmers used to earn up to 350-2000 dollar a month selling crops until the drought happened which their farms are recovering from it

So when people hear 'per capita $5,000' and imagine some villager in Sanaag or Galgaduud, they’re missing how income is generated and circulated. Many rural households generate income and are economically linked to cities. The figure isn’t suggesting everyone makes $5,000 evenly, just that, across the whole economy, that’s the average share. Like any country, there’s income disparity. But we shouldn’t underestimate the real productivity happening in rural areas.

Interesting thanks for sharing. The problem is average though. We have millions of IDP folks especially in southern Somalia , those people are poor and don't earn much. You are citing some relatively successful people (600 USD a month is good income in many African , asian and middle eastern countries) but how many people are able to earn that much in Somalia? Again I think the status are exaggerated because of lack of actual data , but there's a lot of poor folks in Somalia. Us diaspora folks don't hang out in poor areas when we visit back home so we may have a different perception

 

[Barkhadle1520]

Interesting thanks for sharing. The problem is average though. We have millions of IDP folks especially in southern Somalia , those people are poor and don't earn much. You are citing some relatively successful people (600 USD a month is good income in many African , asian and middle eastern countries) but how many people are able to earn that much in Somalia? Again I think the status are exaggerated because of lack of actual data , but there's a lot of poor folks in Somalia. Us diaspora folks don't hang out in poor areas when we visit back home so we may have a different perception

As of 2025, 3.4M people or 18.89% of the total population faces high food insecurity according to the latest IPC report.

In comparison, our neighbor Ethiopia has 15.8M people who face high food insecurity according to the FSNWG.

The difference is that Somalis are actively working on solving the problem and rehabilitating these IDPs.

Somali companies and the Somali government are cooperating to resettle most of these people.

For example here Hormuud and the Government plan to resettle 1M IDPs, give them lands and a job by the next few years. IDPs also enjoy free healthcare apparently. By 2030 they want to reduce food insecurity to around 10%.

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/new...rogram-for-10-000-idps?utm_source=chatgpt.com

A lot of these people were also displaced by the floods last year, many of them certainly lived normal lives before. InshaAllah they will be able to have a stable income soon. I think the majority could be converted to agriculturalism like the Barre gov did in the 70s.

 

[Idilinaa]

As of 2025, 3.4M people or 18.89% of the total population faces high food insecurity according to the latest IPC report.

View attachment 363657

In comparison, our neighbor Ethiopia has 15.8M people who face high food insecurity according to the FSNWG.

View attachment 363658

The difference is that Somalis are actively working on solving the problem and rehabilitating these IDPs.

Somali companies and the Somali government are cooperating to resettle most of these people.

For example here Hormuud and the Government plan to resettle 1M IDPs, give them lands and a job by the next few years. IDPs also enjoy free healthcare apparently. By 2030 they want to reduce food insecurity to around 10%.

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/new...rogram-for-10-000-idps?utm_source=chatgpt.com

View attachment 363661

A lot of these people were also displaced by the floods last year, many of them certainly lived normal lives before. InshaAllah they will be able to have a stable income soon. I think the majority could be converted to agriculturalism like the Barre gov did in the 70s.

A lot of the displaced were actually successful farmers or agro-pastoralists before the combination of climate shocks hit.

The floods that displaced them were devastating, millions were lost. People lost their homes, cars, farmland, livestock, and essential infrastructure.

It’s not that they need to be introduced to farming many of them were already engaged in it. What they truly need is the restoration of their livelihoods and access to proper housing. Sustainable solutions are essential.


You're already beginning to see elements of that resettlement plan being rolled out in certain areas:

Interesting thanks for sharing. The problem is average though. We have millions of IDP folks especially in southern Somalia , those people are poor and don't earn much. You are citing some relatively successful people (600 USD a month is good income in many African , asian and middle eastern countries) but how many people are able to earn that much in Somalia? Again I think the status are exaggerated because of lack of actual data , but there's a lot of poor folks in Somalia. Us diaspora folks don't hang out in poor areas when we visit back home so we may have a different perception.

It's similar to how non working populations, like children, the elderly, or unemployed, don’t contribute directly to income generation. While they are part of the population, they don’t drive the economic activity reflected in income or GDP trends. The same applies to many IDPs until they’re reintegrated into the workforce or local markets.

Income levels vary but that's how much many rural people make either more or less and some tend to make more under cooperatives and some income depend on seasons or market access.

I don’t think it’s exaggerated, market prices are shaped by what people can actually afford, especially in a consumer driven, informal economy like Somalia’s. While supply factors matter too, consistently active local markets and mobile money volumes reflect a level of purchasing power that aligns with the national income estimates.

That’s not to say everyone earns $5K per year, many earn less but national per capita income is an average. It reflects the broader economic trend, not a uniform experience across every individual or region.

 

[Som]

Br

As of 2025, 3.4M people or 18.89% of the total population faces high food insecurity according to the latest IPC report.

View attachment 363657

In comparison, our neighbor Ethiopia has 15.8M people who face high food insecurity according to the FSNWG.

View attachment 363658

The difference is that Somalis are actively working on solving the problem and rehabilitating these IDPs.

Somali companies and the Somali government are cooperating to resettle most of these people.

For example here Hormuud and the Government plan to resettle 1M IDPs, give them lands and a job by the next few years. IDPs also enjoy free healthcare apparently. By 2030 they want to reduce food insecurity to around 10%.

https://www.garoweonline.com/en/new...rogram-for-10-000-idps?utm_source=chatgpt.com

View attachment 363661

A lot of these people were also displaced by the floods last year, many of them certainly lived normal lives before. InshaAllah they will be able to have a stable income soon. I think the majority could be converted to agriculturalism like the Barre gov did in the 70s.

Still the Ethiopian percentage is lower , Ethiopia is 130 million people. Plans are just plans , IDP folks live off international aid and remittance from diaspora somalis, nothing much have been done to solve the issue. I like your optimism but unless we get a stable government this problem will persist.

 

[Barkhadle1520]

Br

Still the Ethiopian percentage is lower , Ethiopia is 130 million people. Plans are just plans , IDP folks live off international aid and remittance from diaspora somalis, nothing much have been done to solve the issue. I like your optimism but unless we get a stable government this problem will persist.

Everything I said was "in theory" but we've seen many already get allocated.

Here is an example.
https://www.unhcr.org/africa/news/s...lies-finally-find-home?utm_source=chatgpt.com


Still don't you find it crazy how even though Ethiopia has 10 times more starving people you never hear about them ?

 

[Barkhadle1520]

A lot of the displaced were actually successful farmers or agro-pastoralists before the combination of climate shocks hit.

View attachment 363665

The floods that displaced them were devastating, millions were lost. People lost their homes, cars, farmland, livestock, and essential infrastructure.
View attachment 363667

It’s not that they need to be introduced to farming many of them were already engaged in it. What they truly need is the restoration of their livelihoods and access to proper housing. Sustainable solutions are essential.


You're already beginning to see elements of that resettlement plan being rolled out in certain areas:





It's similar to how non working populations, like children, the elderly, or unemployed, don’t contribute directly to income generation. While they are part of the population, they don’t drive the economic activity reflected in income or GDP trends. The same applies to many IDPs until they’re reintegrated into the workforce or local markets.

Income levels vary but that's how much many rural people make either more or less and some tend to make more under cooperatives and some income depend on seasons or market access.

I don’t think it’s exaggerated, market prices are shaped by what people can actually afford, especially in a consumer driven, informal economy like Somalia’s. While supply factors matter too, consistently active local markets and mobile money volumes reflect a level of purchasing power that aligns with the national income estimates.

That’s not to say everyone earns $5K per year, many earn less but national per capita income is an average. It reflects the broader economic trend, not a uniform experience across every individual or region.

80 cows and crops ?? Dude was rich subhanAllah

 

[Barkhadle1520]

A lot of the displaced were actually successful farmers or agro-pastoralists before the combination of climate shocks hit.

View attachment 363665

The floods that displaced them were devastating, millions were lost. People lost their homes, cars, farmland, livestock, and essential infrastructure.
View attachment 363667

It’s not that they need to be introduced to farming many of them were already engaged in it. What they truly need is the restoration of their livelihoods and access to proper housing. Sustainable solutions are essential.


You're already beginning to see elements of that resettlement plan being rolled out in certain areas:





It's similar to how non working populations, like children, the elderly, or unemployed, don’t contribute directly to income generation. While they are part of the population, they don’t drive the economic activity reflected in income or GDP trends. The same applies to many IDPs until they’re reintegrated into the workforce or local markets.

Income levels vary but that's how much many rural people make either more or less and some tend to make more under cooperatives and some income depend on seasons or market access.

I don’t think it’s exaggerated, market prices are shaped by what people can actually afford, especially in a consumer driven, informal economy like Somalia’s. While supply factors matter too, consistently active local markets and mobile money volumes reflect a level of purchasing power that aligns with the national income estimates.

That’s not to say everyone earns $5K per year, many earn less but national per capita income is an average. It reflects the broader economic trend, not a uniform experience across every individual or region.

Wait I never knew the 2023 floods were so bad wtf. This is the Somali equivalent of Hurricane Katrina in the US.

To put it into perspective :

- The entire country of Lebanon is 10 thousand km2
- Belgium is 30 thousand km2

in 2023, 15 thousand km2 of farmlands were lost to floods. It's enough to feed 7M people for a year, nearly half of Somalia's population. That's insane.

We were really on a good run as well apparently from 2015 to 2023 lots of people turned to agriculture and many were earning pretty well thanks to their crops.

Worst part is the floods happened after Southern Somalia experienced the worst drought in the Horn of Africa since 4 decades, this is crazy SubhanAllah.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/...ounds-woes-for-somalis?utm_source=chatgpt.com

So we finally start recovering from decades of civil war and then this happens ?



Imagine going trough the worst drought of the century, praying for rain and then you get the worst floods of the century

 

[Idilinaa]

Wait I never knew the 2023 floods were so bad wtf. This is the Somali equivalent of Hurricane Katrina in the US.

View attachment 363683

To put it into perspective :

- The entire country of Lebanon is 10 thousand km2
- Belgium is 30 thousand km2

in 2023, 15 thousand km2 of farmlands were lost to floods. It's enough to feed 7M people for a year, nearly half of Somalia's population. That's insane.

We were really on a good run as well apparently from 2015 to 2023 lots of people turned to agriculture and many were earning pretty well thanks to their crops.

View attachment 363685

Worst part is the floods happened after Southern Somalia experienced the worst drought in the Horn of Africa since 4 decades, this is crazy SubhanAllah.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/...ounds-woes-for-somalis?utm_source=chatgpt.com

So we finally start recovering from decades of civil war and then this happens ?



Imagine going trough the worst drought of the century, praying for rain and then you get the worst floods of the century

Yep . The flood hit the hardest in the south because of the two rivers. EL Nino was truly a once in a century flood. The most equivalent to this that i have learned about recently is the yellow river flood : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1938_Yellow_River_flood#Damages

I learned about it from a youtube video titled "China's Massive Dam (Which Collapsed)"

It was a Sypertyphoon La Nina that pretty much devastated large parts of Chinese and they really didn't recover from it fully for many years to come. It was once in a thousand year flood.

The drought and dry period can be somewhat manageable through water harvesting, storage and supply systems and the lands productivity usually recovers when the rainy season comes , that's why those displaced strictly by drought only are actually minimal in comparison.

To me what i find inspiring really is what the Seed System Groups articulated, namely the resilience and forward thinking spirit, despite the setbacks they refused to be held back by it.