Fsnau-Post-Gu-2012-Technical-Report

Urban Analysis
38
Social Capital
Social safety nets: Remittance is an important lifeline
among the urban population. In the North, about 12 percent
of the households in the Northeast and 17 percent in the
Northwest reported receiving remittances as a primary
income source in the three months preceding the survey.
This is a significant reduction from December 2012 when
the proportion of households depending on remittances were
on average 33 percent in the Northeast and 20 percent in
the Northwest. In the South-Central, the results show lack of
access to remittances by the urban poor. However, about 24
percent of the residents in Banaadir, excluding IDPs, reported
remittances as a primary source of income, which is double
the number reported in December 2012.
Reliance on loans is an important livelihood and coping
strategy for the urban population. In the North, two-thirds of
the urban households reported to have been indebted during
the assessment. The average household debts reported
were SlSh 352,000 (equivalent to US$54) in the Northwest
(SlSh zone) and SoSh 1,230,000 (equivalent to US$58) in
the other parts of the North. These debts are equivalent to
36-37 percent of the cost of the MEB. The rapid assessment
results in the South-Central indicate that most of the urban
poor households are indebted. The average debts reported
were SoSh 800,000 in the South and SoSh 1,500,000 in
the Central, equivalent to US$35 and US$68, respectively.
This shows an increase from the post-Deyr 2011/12 period
(US$13) and is attributable to increased access to loans.
Financial Capital
Households were asked about ownership and amounts
of liquidable assets, which included livestock, cash and
jewellery. In the South, results from the Banaadir indicated
ownership of sheep/goats (10 heads), donkeys (1 head) and
chicken (2 heads) for 4-13 percent of the urban households;
vehicles (1 unit) for 3 percent of households, computers (1
unit) for 5 percent of households, cash savings for 9 percent
of households and jewelry for only 1 percent of households.
The qualitative assessments from the rest of South-Central
also indicated the urban poor households own on average
2-6 goats and 2-6 chicken.
In the North, about 26 percent (Northeast) and 44 percent
(Northwest) of the households reported owning sheep and
goats (4-9 heads), while only 1-3 of households reported
ownership of camels (1-4 heads) and cattle (2-4 heads).
About 9 percent of households cited ownership of vehicles
(1 unit) and computers (1 unit). However, few households
reported cash savings (2-10%) and none of the families
reported ownership of jewellery.
FSNAU Technical Series Report No. VI 48
Issued October 18, 2012
Livelihood Strategies
Income Sources
Income: The urban households were asked about the
three main sources of income they had in the three months
before the survey time. Based on these results, the urban
population’s main sources of income across the country
were employment, trade, sales of livestock and livestock
products, remittances and other types of social support. In
the northern regions, based on regional outcomes, unskilled
and skilled labour were reported by 31-33 percent and
28-30 percent of households followed by petty trading (20-
28%), self-employment (13-14%) and remittance (11-16%).
Livestock and livestock product sales were reported by 2-4
percent of households. However, 3-9 percent and 1-4 percent
of households reported humanitarian assistance and gifts/
zakat as main sources of income.
The findings in Banaadir show increased access to various
income sources. Specifically, from December 2011 to July
2012, the proportion of households engaged in petty trading
increased from 7 to 41 percent. For skilled labour, households
pursuing this income source increased from 10 to 27 percent.
The proportion of households reporting remittances as
a source of income has doubled from January (12% of
households) to July (24% of households).
In terms of income diversity, that is the number of income
sources per household, in the northern regions more than
two-thirds (71-72%) of the urban households relied on one
income source, 22-27 percent have income from two sources
with the rest relying on three or more income sources.
Figure 18: Sources if Income in the Northern Regions
% of households
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Deyr 2012 Gu 2012
Portage activity at Bossaso Port, October 2012