LAND TENURE IN SOMALIA

 

INTRODUCTION TO LAND TENURE IN SOMALIA

In sub-Saharan Africa, Land is a key challenge for economic development, food security, and poverty reduction. However, in many regions, the land is gradually decreasing due to various pressures, including demographic growth. These pressures have resulted in increased competition for land between different groups such as multiple land users (farmers, shepherds, etc.), the urban elite, and foreign investors. Somalia is a country of vast rangelands, pockets of cultivated agricultural land, and growing urban areas which are governed by a diverse land tenure regime that suffered significant disruptions during the country’s prolonged civil war. The civil war in Somalia is often explained through the lens of clan rivalry and outside interventions,

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. Pastoralists move seasonally with their livestock depending on the availability of pasture and water. In 2001, Somalia counted about 300 000 internally displaced persons and 264 000 refugees in neighboring countries.

Land is a major contributor to the social and economic development of many countries in Africa. Its long-term management and use have a profound effect on the environment as well.  The livelihoods of millions of people depend on secure and equitable access to land, fisheries, forests, and other natural resources. They are the source of food and shelter, the basis for their social, cultural, and religious practices, and a central factor in economic growth. As cities grow, the demand for food increases, and areas suitable for agriculture diminish. New urban populations seek access to cultivable land, while land values rise as demand for non-agricultural use grows.

In Somalia where the central government has little influence, the mediated state approach can offer an important framework for taking the first steps to reduce conflict and address the land tenure issues that are so closely related to the instability. Even in Somali cities where central government control is strongest and formal statutes have the most sway, there may be a role for a mediated state approach to land tenure.  As noted above, many neighborhoods in urban areas have a particular clan character and clan elders still play a role in governance

LAND TENURE IN SOMALIA

The word tenure derived from a Latin word “TENU” which means “holding of real state” or conditions of occupancy.

Land tenure represents one of the major challenges that farmers face, especially in developing countries. Many small-scale farmers, especially women, work on land that they do not own, exacerbating their poverty, lack of political power, and equal recognition of basic rights.

From the early 1900s until independence in 1960, large tracts of land along the Shebelle River was appropriated for concessionary development and large-scale private production of bananas and sugar. Following the socialist revolution of October 1969 up to 1976, the new government passed as many as 22 laws regulating the agricultural sector (Robleh and Hussen 1977).

Agricultural Crash Program of 1974, which established a program for temporarily allocating land to the government employees and students from agricultural training colleges. Also the Agricultural Land Law of 1975, was created which authorized the government to settle nomads and refugees in riverine areas.

The Agricultural Land Law of 1975 and subsequent decrees are the principal statutes governing statutory tenure. The law asserts state ownership of overall agricultural land but provides for the issuing of concessions to cooperatives, state farms, autonomous agencies, municipal governments, and private farmers.

Policymakers saw modern corporate structures as the solution for Somalia's agricultural decline. The government promoted the establishment of state farms, cooperatives, and large private farms under the rubric of agricultural modernization.

By 1979, 233 group cooperatives controlled nearly 35,000 hectares (ha),and 48 multipurpose cooperatives controlled more than 32,000 ha (Fadal et al 1985).

In 1984, state farms controlled more than 45,000 ha in the Shebelle valley and nearly 25,000 ha in the Jubba. Areas reserved for the Crash program contained 20,000 ha, and for resettlement schemes, another 27,000 ha.

Concessions are limited to one per family or individual. A family or an individual can obtain a concession of up to 30 ha of irrigated land and 60 ha of rainfed land; the ceiling increases to 100 ha for a banana plantation. The duration of the lease is 50 years renewable. State farms, cooperatives, private companies, and other autonomous agencies are exempt from these time and size ceilings.

Authour: Abdirizak Ali Abdullahi

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