Econ 1320 - Sub-Saharan Africa and Civil Wars

Billy Ryan

ECON-1320

How the Civil War of 1991 Set Somalia up for Economic Failure; and Is Civil War the Common Denominator to Rampant Extreme Poverty?

Part I: Main Objective, and Questions to be answered

        For this case study that I’ve written, I looked to find a country that was devastated by war in a way that it forced the rest of the nation into poverty.  I found one in Somalia, and wanted to do research on just how the 1991 Civil War tore the nation apart from the inside out, with special regards to poverty. Through this case study, I aim to give a clear understanding of the wartime situation in Somalia, the micro economical effects it has had on the citizens of Somalia, provide other examples from around the world, and if there is a possible way out of their dire situation. I purposely looked for one of the bleakest situations in the world with regards to poverty. Some questions I will be answering from my research include:

1. What does war do, on a population wide scale that can directly affect a nation?
2. Are nations that are consistently at war plagued with higher poverty levels?

From my research, I came to the conclusion that countries with extremely high poverty rates have very often been victims of civil war, or internal conflict. Constant internal wartime means a continued draining of resources (which these countries don’t have much of already), as the brutalities of war can have harsh effects on all aspects of life in a country.

Part II: Introduction to Somalia

        Somalia is a country located in the horn of Africa that has been known infamously as one of the most war torn, and violent countries in the world. It has a population of 9,330,872 as of 2010; with 5,841,125 taking up residence in rural areas (this is key to my discussion later). Some of Somalia’s more horrifying statistics include a 32.5% primary school enrollment rate, a 50.6 year life expectancy, a 9% access rate to clean drinking water, and an alarming 180 person mortality rate per 1000, below the age of 5. A quick preview of these statistics only scratches the surface of the dehumanizing effects the Somali Civil War has had on its population, and overall poverty.

Part III: The Civil War

        As the end of the Cold War drew, Somalia became less important to the Western World as its role as a strategic military site diminished greatly. As the West started to pull out of Somalia, and their subsequent aid began to cease; the capital city of Mogadishu became overrun by rebel forces when long-time dictator Mohammad Sian Barre lost control of his army, and was exiled from the country. With an unsure government structure left standing, a struggle for power began between two powerful warlords, Mohamed Farah Aideed, and Ali Mahdi Mohammad. This monumental struggle was met with pervasive bloodshed throughout Somalia, as clan based warfare-shredded Somalia from December 1991, to May 1992. Left in the trolley tracks of this destruction were about 25,000 dead, at least 2 million displaced citizens, 250,000 lives lost to accelerated famine (disruption of food transport combined with a brutal drought plaguing the country), and 1.5 million people fleeing the country. Foreign aid was very slow getting to the war-torn Somalia, as wars such as the Persian Gulf and the Balkan Wars were in full swing. In an attempt to contain the situation, the United Nations launched a peace keeping mission in attempt to slow down the violence and famine, to which they were unsuccessful; this would be the first of many failed attempts to help Somalia get back on its feet via foreign aid. In December of 1992, the United States deployed some of its own soldiers to support the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia, to which they had success. Coupled with the United Nations, they were able to focus the world’s attention on this largely neglected crisis, as well as saving lives and securing food supplies for the battered population. In addition, they injected many resources into an economy largely devoid of them, and provided employment to Somali citizens. However, what this “new world order” didn’t do was disarm the powerful warlords, who would come back to bite the peace ops right in the rear. In 1993, Mogadishu rebels engaged with the United States’ forces, after shooting down two United States helicopters (famously portrayed in the film Black Hawk Down), and many Somalis were killed in the subsequent firefights. In 1994, the US pulled their aid efforts out of Somalia entirely, putting warlords back in control; whereas in 2001, the United Nations pulled all of its aid workers out of Somalia as well, due to violence and high kidnapping risk. To make matters worse, the Indonesian earthquake/tsunami of 2004 battered Somalia’s coastline, killing 300 people and displacing more than 10,000. The next year, the United Nations pulled the plug on various food aid programs for Somalia because of piracy and theft by rebel forces. The year after, harsh firefights between warring clans kill thousands of Somalis in Mogadishu, and causing even more to flee to Kenya to escape the deplorable living conditions. As of December 2013, there is an alarming 482,390 Somali refugees in Kenya, although the number is on a very steady decrease. When all is said and done, a horrific 43% of Somalis live in extreme poverty (less than $1 a day), while 53% of Somalis in rural areas live in extreme poverty. In a country that is inhabited primarily in rural areas that figure is both amazing and incredibly damning. I will now examine how exactly the Civil War skyrocketed Somali poverty into levels previously not imaginable.

Part IV: How The Civil War Sent Half the Nation into Poverty

        As I’ve mentioned in the previous section, many aspects of the war were responsible for exacerbating the issue of poverty in Somalia. Among these aspects include rampant and continuous displacement of rural civilians to urban centers (and vice-versa), the further complication of spreading food to Somali citizens, the reluctance of aid workers to enter Somali territory, and the lack of a strong government. These factors, coupled with a brutal ongoing drought, outbreaks of disease among livestock, and interference from surrounding African nations, make Somalia one of the more unstable countries in the world.

        Continuous displacement of civilians has been a constant throughout the war. The most common displacement is in the form of warlords and their armies taking over valuable land and expelling indigenous clans. Usually, this expulsion forces them to land with significantly fewer resources, or somewhere they are not welcome. In their never ending quest for power, warlords continue to ravage valuable land in all corners of the country, displacing more and more families to places they don’t belong. Since the economy of Somalia is based largely around agriculture and raising livestock, displacement can mean the difference between food for the family, and no food at all. This also means interruptions or complete halts in the trade of food, leading to more scarcity, and ultimately more hunger.