Regional Reports - the European External Action Service

2. Regional Report Somali
1. General remarks on NSA at territorial level.
1.1. Background about Somali Regional State
• The Somali national regional state (SNRS) is the 3 rd largest region in terms of its
geographic area while the region’s total population is smaller relative to the size of the
total area. The total population of SNRS is estimated at 4.3 million of which three
quarters is classified as pastoral and is dependant on animal husbandry for their
livelihood. Apart from a small percentage of the population engaged in commerce or the
civil service, the remainder is classified as agro-pastoral and is dependent on livestock
(cattle, camel goats and sheep rearing) as well as sedentary farming along river basins as
means of livelihood diversification.
• Due to the predominantly arid climatic condition that characterise the SNRS, the
livelihood of the population is often exposed to major shocks resulting from the
recurrence of drought and rain shortage. Even though there are small farms in some
localities where there is precipitation during major seasons, sedentary agriculture is rare
and mainly confined to areas adjacent to the river banks like the Shebele River.
• SNRS one of the most neglected region where infrastructure like road network,
communication, social and economic infrastructure are underdeveloped. As a result,
social services especially education, health, potable water supply, etc are at a very low
level and it is a region with one of the lowest access to these social services. Although the
development policy pursued in the past overlooked the backward socio-economic
condition of the region, the nature of pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihood on which the
population depends would also impose additional limitation on the development
intervention in his region.
• On top of the underdeveloped infrastructure and social services, the fact that settlements
and villages in rural areas are of temporary nature makes it more difficult for the
development of basic social infrastructure (schools, health facilities, water supply, etc)
since the rural population would not live in permanent places like villages and/or towns.
• Since the agro-climate of the region is predominantly arid, there is a very low
precipitation coupled with dry and hot temperature. Thus, the shortage of rain and hence
feed supply is in scarce supply in most of the months particularly in the dry period that
results in the loss of animals on which the livelihoods of the pastoral population is
dependent. Therefore, in order to overcome this problem, every household should move
from one place to the other in search of feed and water for their animals.
• As indicated already, the nature of livelihood of the population is one of the main reasons
but not the core reason for the low level of infrastructure development and inadequate
access to social services. The cumulative effect is the high level of poverty especially in
rural areas coupled with low level of social services coverage including education, health,
water supply and sanitation. Even though three quarter of the region’s population is
dependent on livestock for its livelihood, there was no proper agricultural extension
tailored to the needs of the pastoralist production system. The region agricultural bureaus
does not have adequate manpower, finance and logistics that enable to provide modern
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