340 Scarcity and Surfeit
of the riverine envir~nment.~~ In addition to competition for the resources, there
was also social friction between the communities. The pastoralists typically
viewed the farmers as inferior and tried exploiting them for labour and by sell-
ing commodities at very high prices.The land and resource rights of many cul-
tivators native to the region receded further following the fall of the Barre
regime.
By and large, the areas outside the Juhha River valley and coastal plain in
southern Somalia do not support cultivation. Pastoralists use rangeland areas
lying beyond the river valley and coastal plain. There is a steady supply of
water in Jubbaland, both from the Jubba River as well as rainfall during the
two rainy seasons. Rainfall patterns and the availability of forage enable pas-
toralists to use rangeland areas through a transhumant system. Grazing
resources including pasture and water are the common property of all sub-
clans. However, semi-arid and arid areas of the Jubbaland used by pastoral-
ists are experiencing localised degradation and growing scarcity of important
grazing resources, including pasture and water, further stressing pastoralist
production systems. In the past, small-scale subsistence farmers permitted
pastoralists to use crop residue as forage. In exchange the herders gave prod-
ucts, such as milk, hides and skin to farmers and also exchanged livestock
with them.54
Pastoralists in Jubbaland rear livestock for both the domestic market and
for export. The availability of local and international markets has added value
to livestock production in Jubbaland. The once lucrative livestock market in
Kismayu is not operational owing to rampant insecurity and inter-sub-clan
wars.55 Small-scale pastoralists mainly supply local livestock markets, while
commercial traders, specialising in fattening livestock, supply livestock for
export overseas.56 Livestock is exported to Kenya where the prices are rela-
tively high. In the recent past, raided cattle were sold in the livestock markets
of major towns or urban centres, such as Nairobi and Garissa in Kenya.
Powerful Ogaden cattle traders have sponsored raids on weaker clans in
Jubbaland and have repeatedly sent forays into the Bay and Bakol regions.
Still Ogaden sub-clans, who levy taxes, control the routes to the markets in
Kenya. Livestock hides and skins are exported to the Middle East and other
countries through the port in Kismayu.
History of Settlement and Conflict
In the early 20th century, the Ogaden sub-clans settled in Jubbaland, in the
process displacing the original Oromo inhabitants of the area. These Oromo
communities were pushed further south across the Tana River into what
would later become Ken~a.~' The Ogaden clans were in turn pushed south-
ward by the Marehan clans who were moving southward in search of graz-
ing land and water for their livestock. Clans migrated in search of reliable