Paper short abstract:

The paper reports on the livelihoods of pastoralists in Somalia based on a representative national sample survey carried out in April and June 2011. Households reported substantial losses of livestock over the preceding 6 months; but on average most households still had sufficient to survive; although those interviewed in June were in a worse position.

Paper long abstract:

The paper reports on the livelihoods of pastoralists in six different regions of Somalia based on the findings of a representative national sample survey of pastoralists households (N = 6,650) carried out in April and June 2011. Households reported substantial losses of livestock over the preceding 6 months; but on average most households still had sufficient to survive (based on a threshold of 12 camel-equivalent units per household of 6 persons). There were wide variations between the six regions; and those interviewed in June were in a worse position.

Although relying mainly on pastoralism, households declared a variety of income sources, including casual labour and remittances from abroad; in particular, many households had diversified their local livelihood activities to survive during the previous 3 months. On average, households owed more than a third of GDP per capita. Again, there were wide variations between regions; and those interviewed in June were in a worse position.

Pastoralist households were asked how they would spend an unexpected remittance. Whilst over 60% would spend some of the money on replenishing their herds, over a quarter would spend some of the remittance on school fees; and about the same proportion would spend money on buying land. The paper discusses the implications of their preferences for future expenditures for the likely future for pastoralism in the different regions of Somalia.