$Unique_ID{COW03295} $Pretitle{286} $Title{Somalia Chapter 3B. Crop Production} $Subtitle{} $Author{Donald P. Whitaker} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{production fish fishing hectares government tons plant 1970s area late} $Date{1981} $Log{Figure 9.*0329502.scf President Mohamed Siad Barre*0329503.scf } Country: Somalia Book: Somalia, A Country Study Author: Donald P. Whitaker Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1981 Chapter 3B. Crop Production In the early 1980s it was estimated that fewer than 200,000 families were engaged in sedentary cultivation. Of the approximately 700,000 hectares devoted to crops, about four-fifths were located in the valleys of the Juba and Shabeelle rivers, the areas immediately to the east and west of the rivers, and the upland between them. The only other area of significant settled farming was in the northwest, between Hargeysa and Booraama in Woqooyi Galbeed Region. Of the total cultivated area, roughly 50,000 hectares, or 7 to 8 percent, was under controlled irrigation, including an estimated 35,000 to 38,000 hectares along the Shabeelle River and 12,000 to 14,000 hectares in the Juba valley. Controlled irrigation in other parts of the country probably totaled under 1,000 hectares. At the beginning of the 1980s ongoing irrigation schemes were believed to be adding 1,000 to 2,000 hectares a year to the irrigated total. There is a substantial amount of additional irrigable land in the Shabeelle valley, but the government has estimated that only another 50,000 hectares could be irrigated because of water flow conditions, and even this total has been questioned by outside experts. The Shabeelle maintains a full flow usually only about seven months a year, depending largely on the amount of precipitation in the two rainy seasons. In the late 1970s parts of the existing lower Shabeelle systems were reported already to experience an occasional water shortage, although this was due in part to inefficient use of available water. In contrast the water flow in the Juba was usually year-round. In 1981 the government was seeking external funding for a major multipurpose dam to be constructed near Baardheere on the middle Juba that would have the potential to provide assured irrigation for an estimated 150,000 to 160,000 hectares. Actual development of irrigation under this project, however, appeared unlikely at least until near the end of the 1980s, according to government sources. The cultivation of irrigated market crops began in the early 1900s when private interests established the country's first banana plantations. The number of plantations gradually increased, and by independence over 200 were in existence, all having controlled irrigation. Meanwhile commercial cropping was extended to sugarcane, cotton, rice, sesame, groundnuts, and grapefruit. Since independence the state has become a major factor in market crop production. In the early 1960s the civilian government began the establishment of state farms to ensure, it stated, proper utilization of new land in view of the early stage of development of Somali peasant agriculture. The government declared at the time that this step did not necessarily indicate the adoption of a socialist system but that it was based essentially on pragmatic considerations. This policy of establishing state farms was continued by the military government in the belief also that they represented the best way to increase agricultural output rapidly and at the same time reduce the need for food imports. Most of the state farms of the 1960s involved the development of irrigated land. During the 1970s the expansion of irrigation became even more closely associated with the state farms and government-sponsored agricultural cooperatives, and a significant concomitant was the state's assumption of large areas of irrigable land from traditional cultivators under the right of eminent domain. Through mid-1981 government policy on the extent of individual smallholder participation in irrigated agriculture had not been clearly defined, but continuing planned expansion of public sector and cooperative irrigated farms in the 1980s carried the implication that further alienation of land from traditional occupiers might be anticipated. It appeared that if the trend were to continue, most of the best land along the Juba and Shabeelle rivers would eventually be in the hands of the state or private plantations. Uncontrolled irrigation has long been used by cultivators taking advantage of river floodwaters, and in 1981 an estimated 110,000 hectares were farmed using traditional irrigation practices. The principal method was to plant crops successively as the water receded from the floodplain. Ditches were also used to divert the flowoff to adjacent fields. In some cases channels were constructed leading from the river, but these were of value only if the river rose sufficiently for the water to reach the fields. Flood-irrigated cultivation was more intensive than for ordinary dryland farming, and under favorable water supply conditions yields were reasonably good, resulting in surpluses that produced cash income. The principal crop grown under uncontrolled irrigation was maize, but beans, cotton, and sugarcane were also raised. The most general form of cultivation is rainfed farming, practiced by close to 700,000 cultivators in the late 1970s. Rainfed crop production involves high risks because of the erratic nature of the rainy seasons, the amount of rainfall, and the low technology of traditional cultivation. The latter consists of clearing the land of bushes, shallow hoe preparation of the soil, use of usually poor quality seeds, and later, inadequate weeding. Seeds are sown unevenly and are widely dispersed, and this has helped to reduce the drain on the soil and with reasonable rainfall has produced a somewhat sparse but full crop. Land is readily available, and when yields begin to decline, the cropped field is left in fallow up to about three years. The principal dryland crop is sorghum, which is grown on about 55 percent of the cultivated land. Crops of lesser importance are pulses, maize, millet, sesame, and occasionally groundnuts. One-third to one-half the land is double-cropped-sorghum being planted by many farmers in both wet seasons. In the main cultivated areas of the southwest farm families usually crop from three to five hectares, about the maximum possible under the intensive labor requirement of the traditional system. Comparatively few farmers have adopted improved practices that include using animal power for plowing, better seeds, crop diversification, and some pesticides. The government has undertaken to improve agricultural services for the dryland farmer, but such services still remained poorly developed in the early 1980s. Production estimates for staple crops, including sorghum, maize, beans, and rice show that output stagnated during the 1970s except for rice, the production of which increased substantially toward the end of the decade. Oilseeds and cotton production also stagnated, and output of the two most important industrial crops-sugarcane and bananas-declined, in the case of the latter quite markedly (see table 9, Appendix). Estimates for 1980 showed little change except for rice, which although increasing in volume, still constituted only a small part of total grain production. Foreign observers were of the opinion that an overall relative decline in output had occurred because of the probably greater area devoted to crops as the sedentary agricultural population increased in numbers during the decade through natural growth and the addition of new settlers. Bananas, the principal commercial crop, are grown for the international market on plantations situated almost entirely in an area near Shalanbood on the lower Shabeelle River and a roughly equal area on the Juba River in Jubbada Hoose Region. A small number of privately owned operations-somewhat over half owned by Somalis, a few by mixed Somali-Italian interests, and the remainder by Italians-accounted for about 90 percent of production. The remainder was produced on state farms of the National Banana Board (NBB), which was also the sole purchasing agent for export. (Three-quarters to four-fifths of production was usually exported annually.) Output dropped considerably from the mid-1970s, attributable to a decline in the overall area cultivated from 8,300 hectares in 1975 to 6,000 hectares in 1979 and in the area of production from 6,100 hectares in 1975 to 5,100 hectares in 1978 (although the later increased again to 5,800 hectares in 1979). Yield per hectare also dropped during this time. Factors behind the decline included inadequate investment (apparently because of uncertainties over possible nationalization), low producer prices (believed to be a main cause), short supplies of fertilizers and pesticides, and management skill inadequacies. Sugarcane, the second largest commercial crop, is grown for the milling of sugar for domestic use. A major drop in production occurred from the early 1970s from an average of over 400,000 tons harvested annually in the early 1970s to 261,000 tons in 1979. A major factor was the reduction in cultivated area because of developing soil salinity at the Jowhar Sugar Estate on the Juba River. Other factors included shortages of fertilizers and pesticides, degeneration in the quality of planting stock and, in the late 1970s, labor shortages. In 1978 work began on the development of another state-owned sugarcane plantation at Jilib on the lower Juba River having a planned irrigated area of 8,000 hectares. A sugar factory constructed at the site officially went into operation in September 1980. Data on the actual size of the cultivated area, cane production, and other pertinent facts were unavailable in late 1981. Fisheries Somalia's coastal and offshore seas appear to have considerable potential for fisheries, as shown by studies of nutrient levels and estimates of fish populations obtained from surveys by research vessels, including a joint FAO/Norwegian survey conducted during 1975-76. Potential annual catches of pelagic (open sea) fish such as anchovies, sardines, herring, tuna, and mackerel were estimated at about 108,000 tons. Availability of demersal (bottom dwelling) fish, including flounder, groupers, porgies, and snappers, was estimated at 40,000 tons. In addition roughly 30,000 tons of sharks and rays, about 2,000 tons of spiny lobsters, and 400 tons of shrimp could be taken. Squid, cuttlefish, octopus, oysters, clams, and sea cucumbers also appeared exploitable, but insufficient data were available in 1981 to determine sustainable catches. Commercial demersal fishing is affected by the rocky, uneven character of much of the sea bottom of the relatively narrow continental shelf (about thirty kilometers wide along parts of the Gulf of Aden, up to fifty kilometers off the northeast coast, and seldom wider than fifteen kilometers from Ras Hafun southward to the Kenyan border). As a result trawling can be conducted only in certain areas of the gulf and Indian Ocean coasts (see fig. 9). A major problem in pelagic fishing is the unpredictability of fish locations caused by the irregularity in the start of the monsoons and the subsequent changes in direction of the fish-bearing surface currents (see Climate, ch. 2). The winds during a good part of the year also cause heavy seas that make fishing by small motorized craft unsafe. Fishing is the main source of livelihood of many of the estimated 90,000 people living in the small fishing towns and villages along the coasts. Full-time fishermen were believed to number about 4,000 in the early 1980s. Historically fishing had been of little significance to the economy as a whole, and in the 1970s it still contributed less than 1 percent of GDP. In the past the non-Somali inhabitants of the Giuba Islands off the southwest coast and the Somali fishermen of the villages to the north disposed of their catches in local markets or sold them to the traders who traveled by dhow along the coast about twice a year. Sun-dried and salted fish, tortoiseshell, sharkfins, and other marine products were taken by these dhow traders in exchange for fishing gear, dugout canoes (from India), and other supplies. There was extremely limited marketing of fish inland, which was made difficult by the lack of road communications and even more so by the widespread aversion of Somalis to eating fish (although some fresh fish were sold in the larger ports). By about 1970 the dhow trade had declined greatly, affecting the prosperity of the fishing communities, and some fishermen moved inland seeking other opportunities. The government began encouraging the formation of fishing cooperatives under the provisions of the Law on Cooperative Development of 1974, and a total of eighteen were reported in existence in 1979. The basic principles of the cooperatives included joint handling, marketing, and the purchase of boats, gear, and other fishing needs. Cooperatives at Berbera, Mogadishu, Marka, and Kismaayo were able to sell most or all of their fish fresh, and several cooperatives on the north coast were able to dispose of part of their catches to the fish canneries there (see Manufacturing, this ch.). Fish not used fresh locally had to be salted and sold to the government monopoly corporation SOMALFISH. The cooperatives reportedly have not had a marked effect on raising production. Management staffs have consisted largely of untrained local personnel, and individual incentives have apparently been weakened by the absence of direct responsibility for the use and maintenance of the several hundred motorized fishing boats, gear, and equipment furnished by the government to the cooperatives for communal use without financial obligation. Particularly damaging to production has been the deterioration of the motorboats, use of which had been expected to increase the catch materially. As many as three-quarters of total boats provided had become unserviceable within three years largely because of the lack of individual accountability for proper care and use, although the government's failure to train mechanics and shortages of parts was also responsible. [See Figure 9.: Fishing Towns, Villages, Settlements, and Potential Trawl Fishing Areas] Four new fishery settlements were established along the coast in the mid-1970s, populated by a total of about 15,000 nomads made destitute by the 1974-75 drought. They were organized along the lines of collectives under the administration of the Coastal Development Project, an autonomous government agency, and efforts were made (at first with Soviet aid) to train them as fishermen and in skills associated with fisheries. Fishing operations and conditions, including unusability of motorized boats, appeared generally similar to those in the cooperatives. Two of the settlements (at Eyl and Cadale) were isolated from inland markets by lack of road communications, and all fish were sun-dried, salted, and sold to SOMALFISH. Those at El Hamed and Baraawe were close to the Mogadishu-Kismaayo main road and were able to sell some of their catch fresh. About 9 to 10 percent of the refugees were reported to have left the settlements by some time in 1979. Modern commercial fishing dates from late 1974 after the establishment of the joint Somali-Soviet company SOMALFISH. Subsequently ten Soviet trawlers equipped to freeze catches operated until late 1977, when the Soviet Union withdrew from the venture after the expulsion of its advisers from Somalia. The total catch during the period of operation was 9,670 tons of fish, and 3,730 tons of spiny lobsters. Training of Somalis was to have been carried out, but little actually occurred. The Soviet vessels, moreover, did not provide the government the detailed operational information that could have been useful for planning and executing future fishing ventures. In 1977 Somalia entered into a joint venture with Iraq under which Iraqis were to operate trawlers in Somali waters. Fishing began that year, but information on later operations was unavailable in late 1981. Somalia also licensed several Italian freezer trawlers, three of which fished in 1978 and at least to mid-1979. Additionally SOMALFISH acquired fishing vessels of its own, including two prawn trawlers constructed in Australia that were launched in 1979; these have been operated under contract by an Australian company. In 1980 three freezer trawlers were also ordered from Italy (financed by the Italian government), which were to be delivered about mid-1981. Another nine smaller trawlers were secured from Yugoslavia, but did not appear to be in use because of unsuitability for Somalia's rough-water coastal conditions. According to foreign observers the number of vessels operating or expected to be operating in offshore waters in about 1981 did not appear to offer any immediate threat to either pelagic or demersal fish stocks, but concern has been expressed about overfishing of spiny lobsters. During the early 1970s the overall annual catch averaged possibly 4,000 to 5,000 tons, mostly taken in inshore coastal waters. The provision of motorized fishing boats to the cooperatives and fishing settlements in the mid-1970s resulted in substantial increases in catches, which reached an estimated high of 7,900 tons in 1975. They declined thereafter, however, as more and more motorboats became inoperable and in 1978, the latest year for which statistics were available, the catch had dropped to about 3,550 tons. The Soviet fishing fleet reported 1,370 tons of fish and 680 tons of lobsters taken in 1974, in its first period of operations. The 1977 total had reached 4,550 tons at the time the fleet was withdrawn late in the year. The catch in 1978 by licensed Italian operators was reported at only 255 tons. Offshore operations were continued in 1979 by Italian vessels, which through June (latest data) had taken close to 460 tons of fish and lobsters. Forestry The country's forests-broadly defined as areas of vegetation dominated by trees of any size-cover about 8.6 million hectares, or 13.7 percent of the land area. They consist almost entirely of savanna woodlands, of which about 2.5 million hectares have dense tree stands and about 6 million hectares only scattered tree covering. In addition there are about 100,000 hectares of largely degraded high forests located partly in the mountain ranges of the north and partly in the far southwest (see Terrain, Vegetation, and Drainage, ch. 2). The forestry sector was estimated roughly to have contributed an average of somewhat over 8 percent of GDP at factor cost annually during the 1970s. Frankincense and myrrh obtained from forests in the northeast were important earners of foreign exchange, but little timber was produced. The principal economic value of the forests was as the main source of fuel (either used directly as firewood or converted into charcoal) and as a supplementary supplier of forage. [See President Mohamed Siad Barre: Opening a fishing cooperative project. Courtesy Somali Embassy, Washington] Excessive cutting and overgrazing have led to steady deterioration of the forests. One of the most serious consequences has been expanding desertification, which follows deforestation almost immediately in many areas because of climatic conditions. Government efforts to protect and restore the forests were included in the First Five Year Plan (1963-1967) and each subsequent development plan through the Three Year Plan (1979-1981). Only minor progress appeared to have been made until the mid-1970s when aid was received from the World Food Program and FAO, and under the Five Year Development Programme (1974-1978), a tree planting program averaging about 150 hectares a year was carried out. Two main nurseries were also expanded, twelve small regional ones were established, and trial plantings of teak, gmelina (an Australisian hardwood), mahogany, and eucalyptus were completed. Some planting of tree stands near towns to provide future fuel was also initiated. In the coastal area of southern Somalia, where sand dune drifting (caused primarily by overgrazing) poses a serious threat to agricultural areas and human installations, experimental stabilization planting was carried out. The Three Year Plan (1979-1981) had as one of its main projects an increase in the size of the forestry staff and improvement of its quality-factors that were considered vital for adequate implementation of future forest policies. Among other projects, forestry reserves were to be established, including reserves protected from grazing and others where controlled production of charcoal was to be instituted. Additional forestry plantations, some to provide firewood to nearby towns, were also planned. The program to stabilize dunes along the coast was being continued. Implementation of many of the projects was dependent, however, on international assistance. Preparation of a ten-year forestry development program, which would include use of expatriate forestry consultants to carry out investigative studies, was planned, but this effort was also dependent on funding by external donors. Mining Mineral resources believed to have considerable potential value have been found in various parts of Somalia. Through late 1981, however, development of the mining sector had been minimal, and mining's contribution to GDP was relatively small. Although production data were negligible, government sources estimated that during the 1970s the sector's annual contribution to total GDP had, at most, been only slightly over 1 percent and in the late 1970s had been even lower. During the colonial period the British administration in the north established a geological department that discovered tin ores in present-day Boosaaso District that were mined commercially until World War II. Significant deposits of gypsum and anhydrite were found near Berbera, and occurrences of columbite, lead-zinc, tantalite, and several other metalic minerals were also located. In the south exploration was left to private interests by the Italian administration, and little systematic information on mineral potentials was developed. After independence a major program of exploration was undertaken from the early 1960s by the UNDP. Among significant finds were a sizable deposit of low-grade iron ore and deposits of uranium, thorium, and several rare earth minerals. UNDP activities in the direct investigation of mineral potentials continued to the mid-1970s; further exploration has been carried on by the Somali Geological Survey with UNDP help. Exploration for petroleum and natural gas (the possible existence of which is indicated by geological conditions) began after World War II. It was continuing in 1981 under cooperative ventures between the government and private oil companies, but commercial deposits had not been located through mid-1981 (see Petroleum Supply and Domestic Resources, this ch.). Actual mineral exploitation had been limited through late 1981 and principally involved materials quarried for construction. Salt was obtained through solar evaporation, and some sepiolite (meerschaum), of which large high-grade deposits are located in Galguduud Region, was apparently also mined for local consumption. The principal nonhydrocarbon potentials for development in 1981 included limestone suitable for making cement, large quantities of which were situated in the area of Berbera, where a cement plant was under construction in 1981, and near Baardheere in Gedo Region (see Manufacturing, this ch.). Other nonmetallic minerals of importance were the gypsum-anhydrite deposits near Berbera-reportedly among the world's largest-quartz sands suitable for the domestic manufacture of glass, kaolin, and high-grade piezoquartz (used in electronics and optical instruments) found in pegamite dikes throughout an extensive area in the northwest. At least two large uranium deposits-estimates of sizes varied-had been identified: one in Galguduud Region and the other in Buur Hakaba District of Bay Region. The latter deposits also contained thorium. Several foreign firms secured prospecting concessions in Bay Region in the 1960s, but by about the mid-1970s all had relinquished their holdings. In the early 1980s the Somali Arab Mining Company, a joint venture between the governmental Somali Mining Company (two-thirds interest) and the Jordanian Arab Mining Company (one-third interest), held an exclusive license for exploration and mining in an area covering 57,000 square kilometers. The area encompassed the deposit in Galguduud Region and other deposits in adjacent Madug Region. Iron ore deposits, estimated at about 200 million tons and having an average content of about 35 percent iron, were found in Dhiinsoor District of Bay Region, and other deposits had been reported from several parts of the country. In 1981 development both of the uranium and iron deposits remained in the exploratory and evaluation stage. Manufacturing At independence the country's modern manufacturing establishments (defined as enterprises having five or more workers) consisted of one large operation-the Italian-owned sugar refinery at Jowhar-a few medium-sized, and roughly 100 small-sized manufacturing operations. In the 1960s about a dozen new large and medium-sized enterprises were built. Most were state-owned plants for which financing had been provided from abroad. The state enterprises included five large plants: a meat processing factory at Kismaayo, a dairy plant at Mogadishu, and a fish cannery at Laas Qoray on the northern coast, all constructed with Soviet assistance; the SOMALTEX cotton textile plant at Balcad north of Mogadishu, largely funded by West Germany; and a fish factory in Caluula District on the northern coast, financed by the United States. Public sector involvement was further extended during the decade by the government's acquisition of a 50 percent interest in the Jowhar sugar plant in 1963. In the 1970s the funds for manufacturing expansion were again overwhelmingly from foreign sources for government projects and, although private sector involvement occurred, the major additions to manufacturing facilities were state operations. They included a cigarette and match factory, a packaging plant making cardboard boxes and polyethylene bags, a fruit and vegetable canning plant, a wheat flour and pasta factory, several grain mills, an iron foundry, and a petroleum refinery. Extensive rehabilitation of the Jowhar sugar plant (nationalized in 1970) also was carried out. New machinery was installed at a long inoperative brick and tile factory near Afgooye, and SOMALTEX facilities were greatly expanded. (In 1981 SOMALTEX reportedly was among the best equipped textile plants in Africa.) At the end of the decade work was under way on a second sugar factory, situated near Jilib in Jubbada Hoose Region-this plant commenced operations in September 1980-and a cement plant at Berbera that was still under construction in late 1981. Foreign grant and loan assistance again played a major role and included Chinese aid for the cigarette and match factory; Saudi Arabian, United Arab Emirates, and Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) development fund assistance toward construction of the second sugar factory; and IDA funds and Yugoslav technical assistance for setting up the iron foundry. Iraq furnished the funds for the oil refinery. According to a government industrial survey, there were fifty-three modern state-owned manufacturing enterprises in 1978, of which about a dozen were in the large-size category. They employed 9,735 workers, who constituted 78 percent of the modern manufacturing labor force, and their combined production accounted for more than three-quarters of manufacturing gross output. The underlying reason for state ownership of the large plants constructed in the 1960s appears to have been the size of the required investments, which were beyond the capability of the private sector. Although this same factor remained equally important in the 1970s, the belief that all major productive facilities should be publicly owned so that profits would accrue to the government for use in other socially desirable undertakings has been preeminent since the military takeover in 1969 and the subsequent adoption of a socialist program. In the late 1970s the state industries (except the wheat flour and pasta factory) showed little or no profit or suffered losses. Production was stagnant or, at the end of the decade, below earlier highs (see table 10, Appendix). Among contributory factors were the lack of managerial staff and skilled workers, and declining productivity attributed largely to inadequate financial incentives for employees. Other major factors were production capacities in excess of domestic demand, insufficient domestic and import supplies and, in the case of the fish canneries and meat packing plant, the lack of export markets. Examples were the cardboard box and plastic bag company's output, which was taken mainly by the banana trade and to a lesser extent by the fish and meat canneries. Its capacity was far beyond requirements at the beginning of the 1980s. The canneries, whose production was aimed at the export market, were plagued by inadequate supplies, a shortage of spare parts, and after the departure of Soviet personnel in 1977, by loss of the Soviet Union as a main market. Facilities of the fruit processing plant were regularly underutilized because of shortage of domestic raw materials, and the cigarette and match factory suffered similarly from a scarcity of imported raw materials. Shortages of supply at the milk plant appeared to be caused mainly by payment to producers of prices that were well below those in the open market. The output of neither the fruit nor milk plant satisfied domestic demand. Epitomizing the problems of the state sector in general was SOMALTEX. After a sharp rise in output resulting from earlier installation of new machinery, the plant registered a major production decline in 1979 caused by a shortage of skilled workers to operate effectively its sophisticated equipment, its management's inability to coordinate production flows, inadequate raw material supplies, and production interruptions because of fuel and energy shortages. In 1978 there were in operation 224 private enterprises having five or more employees. Total employment was almost 2,750, or 22 percent of the modern manufacturing sector work force. Almost half of the plants were engaged in the processing or production of food, beverages, clothing, and footwear. Among the larger private establishments in production in the late 1970s were a plant that manufactured chemicals, detergents, shampoos, and insecticides; two soft drink plants; and two tanneries. Between 70 and 75 percent of the raw materials used by the chemical plant were imported, as were most of the main ingredients of the beverage plants. The tanneries-one at Mogadishu, the other at Baraawe-processed domestic raw materials and produced shoes, sandals, and boots. A meat cannery had been in operation at Mogadishu until 1977 when it closed because of supply problems and financial difficulties; it remained closed through 1980, the latest date for which information was available. Two private fish canneries were also closed in 1979 (1980 and 1981 status unknown) because of a lack of fish, a shortage of spare parts, and the need for new machinery. Outside the modern sector, according to a survey taken in the mid-1970s, there were more than 6,000 manufacturing units belonging to what has frequently been called the informal sector. These establishments having fewer than five workers were mainly single proprietor and family operations. They produced a wide range of goods that included handloomed cloth, clothing, footwear, furniture, baskets, pottery, various other ceramic products, hand tools, rope, vegetable oils, and baked goods. These small industries were a major provider of employment and livelihood, especially for the urban population.