Development in a nomadic society: A study of indigenous and exogenous change in northern Somalia

This study examines four types of economic activity in northern Somalia--horticulture, import/export trade, rangeland improvements, and fishing--which are generally considered recent intrusions into an otherwise nomadic pastoral economy.; Over 100 years' economic development patterns were traced in historical documents and archival materials. Field interviews were conducted at four sites in northern Somalia to examine these activities in their current form.; The economic types were found not to be individual, isolated experiments, but part of a much larger economic system, highly diversified and heavily dependent on commercial, contractual arrangements. Also, they are rooted in the cultural, social fabric with centuries-old precedents.; These findings are at variance with conventional thinking which has assumed that the Somali and other societies in the arid zones have comparatively simple, pastoral economies--highly adapted to their environment, resistant to change.; Official, or "formal" development projects have followed this conventional thinking, and have advocated an interventionist approach to compensate for the allegedly impoverished physical and social environment. They have attempted to concentrate production in a single sphere, to increase peoples' reliance upon the land and its material resources, and to restrict transfer of goods and services.; The informal or "self-help" tradition has been profoundly entrepreneurial--people diversifying production, minimizing their dependence on land, and relying on human resources to generate value, distribute risk, and maintain stability.; Reviewed historically, each of the traditions is remarkably consistent in approach. Their strength and tenacity has been and is that in conflict they cancel each other's positive development effects. Unless these two approaches are reconciled, Somalia's economic growth will continue to be frustrated, the country increasingly unable to cope with environmental aberrations and population growth. Also, human energy, funds and natural resources will continue to be wasted.; Development planners need to closely examine the dynamics of underlying economies before advocating solutions. For these economies may be operating in ways that are qualitatively different from those of sedentary land-based societies and, therefore, the mode of development may need to be qualitatively different. More individualistic approaches, relying on entrepreneurial initiative and providing latitude for diversification, may be more appropriate.