Area: |
627 000 sq.km |
Climate: |
Semi-arid in the south; rest arid |
Population: |
6.40 million (2000 estimate); G.N.P.
per caput; n.a. |
Specific characteristics of the
country: |
Low-income food-deficit country |
Logistics: |
Inadequate port facilities; serious
shortage of fuel and spare parts |
Major foodcrops: |
Maize, sorghum, sesame |
Marketing year: |
August/July; Lean season: June-August |
Share of cereals in total calorie
intake: |
45 percent |
Harvest of the main season ("Gu") crops, recently completed, is satisfactory. The season's cereal production, estimated at 212 000 tonnes, is about 22 percent above the post-war (1993-1999) average. Widespread rains in April/May and good "Hagay" rains at the beginning of July helped developing crops in Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Hiran, Bay, Bakool and parts of Lower Juba. Improved security conditions have also encouraged some households to return to their farms and facilitated farming activities. However, poor harvests are anticipated in some pockets of Gedo, Lower Juba and Middle Juba Regions due to erratic and insufficient rains.
Despite some improvement in the overall food supply situation in parts of southern Somalia, serious malnutrition rates are increasingly reported, reflecting diminished livelihoods due to a succession of droughts and longer-term effects of years of insecurity and lack of investment in the economy.
Elsewhere, in north-western Somalia (Somaliland) the food situation is precarious in some agro-pastoral areas in Togdheer, Awdal and Sanag where successive below-normal rains have severely affected crop and livestock production. With community support waning, migration of people and livestock, mainly camels, to Ethiopia and other regions is reported.
A UN Inter-Agency appeal was launched in July 2000 for about US$15.6 million to assist some 750 000 vulnerable people in Somalia. Total pledges for the 2000/01 marketing year amounted to 24 000 tonnes, of which 20 000 delivered so far.
| Wheat | Rice | Coarse grains | Total | |
| Previous five years average production | - | 2 | 260 | 262 |
| Previous five years average imports | 122 | 92 | 74 | 288 |
| 2000/01 Domestic Availability | - | 1 | 310 | 311 |
| 2000 Production (rice in paddy terms) | - | 2 | 310 | 312 |
| 2000 Production (rice in milled terms) | - | 1 | 310 | 311 |
| Possible stock drawdown | - | - | - | - |
| 2000/01 Utilization | 130 | 91 | 420 | 641 |
| Food Use | 90 | 61 | 290 | 441 |
| of which: local purchase requirement | - | - | - | - |
| Non-food use | 40 | 30 | 95 | 165 |
| Exports or Re-exports | - | - | - | - |
| Possible stock build up | - | - | 35 | 35 |
| 2000/01 Import Requirement | 130 | 90 | 110 | 330 |
| Anticipated commercial imports | 70 | 75 | 40 | 185 |
| Food aid needs | 60 | 15 | 70 | 145 |
| Current Aid Position | ||||
| Food aid pledges | 3 | - | 21 | 24 |
| of which: Delivered | 2 | - | 18 | 20 |
| Donor-financed purchases | - | - | - | - |
| of which: for local use | - | - | - | - |
| for export | - | - | - | - |
| Estimated Per Caput Consumption (kg/Year) | 15 | 10 | 47 | 71 |
| Indexes | ||||
| 2000 production as % of average: | 119 | |||
| 2000/01 import requirement as % of average: | 115 |
