The settlement of Somali nomads
Tsui, A.O.; Ragsdale, T.A.; Shirwa, A.I.
Genus 47(1-2): 131-150
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0016-6987 PMID: 12284818 DOI: 10.2307/29789048Document Number: 318093
The Somali economy is highly dependent on nomadic pastoralism for its livestock production and exports. A severe drought in 1973-75 decimated much of the nomadic sector's means of subsistence and saw the eventual resettlement of over 100 000 members in several agricultural and fishing communities. A survey of around 2000 households in four settlement areas provides data to assess the post-settlement situation and conditions. The key findings are: a high percentage of households are headed by women, suggesting the return of husbands to pastoralism; children are being formally educated; a high degree of satisfaction is voiced with settlement life; and evidence exists of diversified occupational structures beyond just agriculture and fishing. While data problems require cautious inference from the findings regarding post-settlement adaptation, the results suggest mixed successes of settlement schemes.