How Al-Shabaab shapes climate adaptation in Somalia
Ashley Jackson, Albert Souza Mülli, Samira Gaid and Mohamed Mubarak
Somalia's climate finance goes almost entirely through the state, so it largely stops where government control ends. Many of the country's most climate-vulnerable communities live beyond that line, under or alongside Al-Shabaab. Drawing on 42 interviews and an archive of around 50,000 Al-Shabaab media outputs, this report examines how the group regulates trees, grazing, water and the sea, and how it responds to droughts and floods. Some of its rules protect resources. Most serve its security, revenue and control, and many close off the coping strategies households rely on when a shock hits. The report sets out four distinct operating environments, from government-held towns to areas under full Al-Shabaab control, and what adaptation programming is realistic in each.
