Bless the Rains Down in Somalia
Somalia has been name-dropped of late in the media as the most recent African country for climate change to take its increasing toll on. The image below shows the devastation of the country at present.
Figure 1: Climate Change in Somalia
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross
Currently, 2.3 million people suffer from water and food shortages (United Nations, 2020) with 70% of families without access to safe drinking water. The situation is worsening with climate projections illustrating Somalia will face it’s fourth consecutive failed rainfall season. Already, over 116,000 people have been displaced between October 2020 and March 2021 in search for water, food, and pasture for their livestock. The video below illustrates the solemn situation.
In severe cases sheep and goats have died because of the drought and lack of food. If climate change aggravates the situation further and the rains do not come no Somali will survive.
Figure 2: Deceased livestock due to drought in Somaliland
Source: Oxfam
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting post. I also did some research on Somalia and as you mentioned, there are significant challenges to be overcome in improving the nation's food security, notably the effects of climate change. Do you know of any ways this has been addressed/mitigated (at any scale)? I found a case study on a seawater greenhouse in the autonomous region of Somaliland but would be interested to learn more about other methods you may have come across.
ReplyDelete