Overgrazing is a major environmental issue that leads to land degradation.  It continues to be a vicious cycle and will only continue to compound in the absence of interventions to mitigate the risks from overgrazing on pasture lands. 

One of the chief causes of land degradation is overgrazing.  Overgrazing is a serious environmental problem caused by pastures being grazed for extended periods-of-time without sufficient recovery for regrowth of forage on pasture lands. In the absence of interventions to mitigate the dangers of overgrazing in pasture areas, the vicious cycle only worsens.  According to WWF (World Wildlife Organization) Overgrazing can reduce ground cover, enabling erosion and compaction of the land by wind and rain... This reduces the ability for plants to grow and water to penetrate, which harms soil microbes and results in serious erosion of the land[ii].

Somalia’s economy is by-in-large reliant on livestock.  According to IGAD Somalia occupies a land area of 637,540 square kilometers and only 13% of Somalia’s land is arable, of which only 8% has been cultivated and 98 % is made up of rangelands. Livestock production is the primary economic activity in the country, comprising approximately 50% of the gross domestic products and more than 80% of the export revenue. About 55% of the national population participates in nomadic pastoralism and 80% is engaged in livestock raising of some kind. The use of land for grazing plays a crucial role in the lives of people and the economy in Somalia, since roughly 55% of the Somali population is pastoralist[iii].   From this data we can understand that livestock and pasture management is of the upmost importance.

Due to changes in climate patterns Somalia is experiencing prolonged droughts and destructive flooding.  These prolonged droughts have added to the overgrazing problem due to Somali pastoralist’s tendency to be transhumant, they migrate according to routes on seasonal basis.  Due to disputes between tribes over pasture lands and insecurity in the country, the routes are not very extensive.  For this reason, when the rains are delayed or insufficient, the livestock is kept in specific pasture areas for far too long and when it does rain in a specific area the pastoral families tend to migrate immediately with their livestock towards the greener pastures without providing sufficient time for regrowth.

A large portion of Somalia’s pasture lands are common goods not belonging to any particular person and is rivalrous in nature.  No one is legally barred from having their livestock graze the forage and the available forage dwindles with each head of livestock.  This is a classic case of a tragedy of commons, where the incentive is to take advantage of the resource regardless of it being depleted or not, without the consideration of conservation.  This is due to the assumption that if you don’t take advantage of the pasture lands some else will.  In this case, the livelihood of the pastoral families in the short run depends on having their livestock graze where they can regardless of whether or not the soil is being degraded.  If some families withhold others will continue grazing on that land.  In the long run it is a disaster for all, but people generally left to their own devices will focus on survival in the short run as opposed to long term consequences.  This is a major issue that pastoral families face, it is an environmental and economic threat to Somalia in the foreseeable future.  Intervention is needed, one that protects the environment and benefits the pastoral families. 

The political climate in Somalia is unstable. Many of the areas where pastoral people reside and graze their animals are not under the full control of Somalia's Federal Government. The instability is a great barrier standing in the way of any direct interventions that the Federal Government of Somalia can take.  Due to better accessibility, Somali-run non-governmental organizations and private businesses have the potential to have a greater impact in intervening.

If the pastoral families are left to their own devices and steps are not taken to improve the situation, it will only continue to worsen.  Pasture lands require viable strategies to rectify current degradation and prevent future deterioration.  Many pastoral families own acres of land that they use to graze their livestock or to grow crops.  Setting up sustainable systems for them on their privets lands would be helpful.  An example would be to establish an Ultra-High Density Non-Selective Grazing system. The land would be enclosed; most privet lands already are.  Each family's privately held land would be divided into several sections, with livestock grazing section-by-section to allow for regrowth.  This method forces the livestock to eat all the forage in each section and to fertilize the land with their dung and urine.  This would work towards improving the health of the soil.  The livestock may also be placed in a movable enclosed structure which is moved several times throughout the day in the different section of the land.  This second method removes the need of using physical stationary barriers in sectioning off the land.  Only an outer fence would be needed to keep out predators and other livestock & game animals.  Ultra-High Density Non-Selective Grazing has been tested with success in parts of Somalia and should be given great consideration as a viable intervention to overgrazing in Somalia. 

Mohamed Sheikh Elmi

Accord University