ReliefWeb

Highlights

The Gu 2018 seasonal rains (AprilJune) persisted in most of the northern regions and some areas in the South.
However, this significantly reduced in terms of intensity with poor spatial and temporal distribution. Most rainfall activities were experienced in the 3rd dekad of June, with most of the stations recording below average rains in the month of June except a few stations including; Bilidhin (16mm), Elafweyn (27mm), Burao (27mm), Aburin (61mm) and Baidoa (20mm) {Table 1 and Map1}. Shabelle river level has significantly dropped due to reduction of rainfall activities in the upper catchments. Howerver, it is still supportive of crop irrigation activities especially in Hiran.

Rainfall estimates (RFE) derived from tropical applications of Meteorology using satellite (TAMSAT) confirms gradual end of Gu rains in large parts of the country (Maps 3-5). Analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from E-Modis show substantial improvement in vegetation conditions in key pastoral and agropastoral areas which is attributed to effective rainfall in April and May. However, depressed vegetation is evident in small pockets of agropastoral of Shabelle, Northern Inland Pastoral (NIP) and pastoral livelihoods in the Juba’s and Gedo (Maps 6-8 and 10).

Field reports confirm that pasture and water conditions in many parts of the country have improved and remain favorable while opportunistic normal livestock migration in search for better pasture is observed across the country.

In localized areas in NIP and Coastal Deeh, pasture and browse availability is still limited. In Bay, the early-planted crops are at maturity stage. Lateplanted crops (Soghurm, maize and sesame) are in good condition and are at establishment stages. They are expected to be harvested in late August to early September 2018. In the flood affected areas along Shabelle River, some farmers replanted crops and benefitted from recession cultivation.