Impoverished groups hit by Djibouti border closure

There has been a slight recovery of the Somali currency following the announcement by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that it had lifted the ban on imported livestock, imposed in September 2000 because of an outbreak of Rift Valley fever. The joint FSAU (European Commission funded- and Food and Agriculture Organisation-implemented Food Security Assessment Unit) and FEWS-NET (USAID-funded) monthly Food Security Report for Somalia said in June that despite a slight recovery, the lifting of the ban in May was expected to have a “limited impact on the food security situation in northern Somalia”, which had deteriorated since the Rift Valley fever ban was imposed by the Arab states. In normal circumstances, the UAE market accounted for only about 2 percent of the total livestock exported from Somalia to Arab countries, the report said. Humanitarian sources confirmed that following the lifting of the ban, about 6,000 sheep and goats and a small number of cattle had left by boat from Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on 29 May.

There had been further impoverishment of vulnerable groups in the north by the border closure between Djibouti and the self-declared independent state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, the report noted. It said in Awdal Region, near the Djibouti and Ethiopian borders, the poor food-economy group, who rely on petty trade, had felt the impact of the border closure, as all locally produced cereals and vegetables were usually marketed in Djibouti. Imported food commodity prices were expected to further increase in the coming months because of the seasonal monsoon closure of the seaports in Somalia. Over the last six months, the price of fuel had dramatically increased, especially diesel, which had affected mechanised agriculture, water pumping and transport.

Concern had been expressed “from many quarters” over poor crop condition, especially in the northern production areas of Hiran, Gedo, Bay and Bakool, the FSAU-FEWS-NET report said. The seasonal Gu cropping season had started late, and May rainfall had not been as good as in 2000. Rains had been well distributed in the Shabelle valley with the exception of Hiran, southern Somalia, and weather conditions had been favourable to agriculture from Lower Juba to southern Gedo. However, conditions had been “abnormally dry” in most parts of Gedo, Bakool and Bay, “seriously inhibiting crop establishment”, the report warned. [For further information on rainfall estimates through satellite imagery contact: [email protected]]