Somalia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

water scarcity; contaminated water contributes to human health problems; improper waste disposal; deforestation; land degradation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection

signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

Climate

principally desert; northeast monsoon (December to February), moderate temperatures in north and hot in south; southwest monsoon (May to October), torrid in the north and hot in the south, irregular rainfall, hot and humid periods (tangambili) between monsoons

Land use

agricultural land: 70.3% (2018 est.)

arable land: 1.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 68.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 10.6% (2018 est.)

other: 19.1% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 47.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 4.2% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies:due to drought conditions and internal conflict - about 6.5 million people are estimated to face severe acute food insecurity between April and June 2023 as a result of consecutive poor rainy seasons since late 2020 and heightened conflict since early 2021 (2023)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 14.28 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 0.65 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 20.13 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2,326,099 tons (2016 est.)

Major aquifers

Ogaden-Juba Basin

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 2 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 3.28 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

14.7 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)