Environmentalists: Demand for Somali Charcoal Fueling Desertification, Drought

MOGADISHU - Environmentalists are warning that the demand for charcoal in Somalia is fueling desertification and drought. 

The U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, known as UNCCD, says an estimated 8.2 million trees were cut down for charcoal in Somalia between 2011 and 2017, increasing land degradation, food insecurity, and vulnerability to flooding and drought. Dr. Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed, an expert on the environment, water and climate change, said several parts of the country are experiencing climate-related shocks because of the unprecedented deforestation rate in the past three decades. "In many parts of the Hiran and Middle Shabelle region, that is the places we have seen major flooding because of the low capacity of the river channel to carry a large amount of water, and that has clear co-relations with the number of trees," he said. "Because when the tree is cut, it will be easy for the soil to erode, which ends up into the river. So all these connections can be explained — that the people have cut down the large number of trees that could have sustained the life of the rural people and their animals."