How Somali agropastoralists adapt to climate change

The impact of climate change varies depending on location, adaptive capacity and other socioeconomic and environmental factors. In Somaliland, adverse impacts include recurrent droughts, greater biodiversity loss, encroachment of invasive plants, increased rural–urban migration, loss of soil fertility and higher health risks. The Heinrich Boell Foundation publication The impact of climate change and adoption of strategic coping mechanism by agro-pastoralists in Gabiley Region, Somaliland (2011, 36pp), by Lemma Belay and Ahmed Jamma Sugulle, presents case studies documented by the NGO Candlelight for Health, Education and Environment (CLHE), focusing on how climate change impacts on agropastoral communities in different ecological zones of Somaliland.

Rainfed crop farming is practised in the study area since over a century but has been intensified in recent decades. The predominantly pastoral production system has gradually been shifting into a mixed livestock–crop system. The authors see this as a strategy of the pastoralists to adapt to climate change, combined with seeking alternative livelihoods to sustain incomes.

Posted on 2 August 2018 in Pastoralism & Climate Change, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition