Land Grabs Threaten Peace in Somaliland

Recently, the new Somaliland administration has signed a $100 million agriculture project agreement to boost agriculture and food security with US based African Food Security (AFS) at QolCadey Plains, outskirts of Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital, despite the shady AFS Agricultural project deals in Senegal that went sour. The local farmers and pastoralists communities are against the plan because of lack of consultation, but the government is planning to go ahead with the project.

Also, the Somaliland government has given permission for the Pharo Foundation, a non-profit NGO based in Nairobi to acquire a whopping 10,000 hectares of the fertile land of the Wajaale Plains in the Gabiley District in western Somaliland, against the will and without the consent of the local people or consideration for the impact on the livelihood of the communal farmers.

This blatant disregard for the input of the local people and communal farmers would only exacerbate the already tense relationship between Gabiley communities and the Somaliland administration regarding agricultural land and also minerals and gold. Two weeks ago, two people died after the police fired upon people demonstrating against a Chinese funded mining company for precious and rare metals in clashes with the indigenous people in Agabar Township.

This is another example of how big investors using NGOs or rich countries are acquiring indigenous farming land under the guise of agricultural development. For example, the Nasdaq-traded agribusiness company, African Agriculture took over a staggering 2.9 million hectares of farming land across Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. In 2024, the company was delisted from Nasdaq when its shares fell below the $1 minimum value threshold. Now, the Senegalese farmers are still fighting to get their land back.