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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Market camel milk between the devil and the deep blue sea
| Panel |
77. Conceptualizing natural hazards, risks and resilience in Africa
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| Paper ID | 691 |
| Author(s) |
Nori, Michele
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Somali people are often perceived and described as amongst the most vulnerable on earth, strained and stressed by harsh environmental conditions, which have been compounded in recent decades by civil tensions and geo-political pressures. Since 1991 Somalia lacks a central state, thus to represent a unique case in the whole world.
High degrees of food and social insecurity might easily characterise local livelihoods as a result of sporadic conflict events and climatic extremes. Within this frame Somali communities are often portrayed as passive actors unable to remould this situation and shape their lives.
While this might be the case in specific zones, the situation changes from one area to another of previously-called Somalia. The pastoral societies which characterise the north of the country seem to have coped better with the recent changes, and indeed patterns of socio-economic development are reported in most northern areas, where peace conditions have been re-established, forms of civil and political engagements have been agreed upon and the economy is booming.
The paper explores how the pastoral institutional setting of northern Somalia has helped recovering in the aftermath of the civil strife that ravaged the country and how it nowadays supports local livelihoods during harsh times, so to reduce their vulnerability and provide options for effectively coping with natural hazards. The research specifically analyses the evolution of camel milk marketing (CMM) in NE Somalia, also named as Puntland. While providing support for social and economic integration of pastoral households within the wider societal frame, the marketing of camel milk is of particular importance when livelihood conditions become critical due to climatic extremes, thus enhancing the capacity of local communities to overcome difficult times.
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