How Green is Puntland?

[Mckuus]

Here's a map highlighting drought in East Africa; Puntland has suffered the least in terms of drought in the last 30 years due to stable rainfall and healthy soils. There have been less than a few dozen weeks of drought in Puntland in three decades. Puntland doesn't have heavy rains but it has stable rain patterns.

That's correct.

Did the drought even reach Puntland this year? Because I heard the Gu rains just fell fairly normally in between April-June.

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

There was a mild drought that lasted a few weeks, I don't think any casualties came about. PL marine convoys were detached to transport water but it wasn't nearly enough to tend to any large-scale disasters. The cause of the drought wasn't lack of rainfall primarily but because people in rural communities had tapped out their wells. PL just needs to support these communities with more advanced well-drilling equipment that dig deeper wells but its a good sign that rural Puntlanders are knowledgeable and skilled enough to harness or find water through advanced and rigorous means; they're light-years ahead of the southern communities.

[Mckuus]

Yeah there's a lot of potential in the groundwater resources of Puntland.

You should check out these Saudis having farms in places where it barely even rains.

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

Those Arabs go overboard with their shit, they even export wheat. There's a difference between fetching water and water mining, PLers should not go into water-mining, which is the commercial over-drafting of water. They should use enough to feed their animals and perhaps have a modest garden per family. PL is not meant to naturally sustain commercial farming and it should be fought against. The farms you see in the new satellite images of Bosaso are more artisan in nature than commercial, and that is okay with me. I think, with our population/growth trends and the natural water tables we have, we are easily self-sustaining and have a lot of room, but we should definitely not test the limits. Those pivot-style irrigation setups you see in the Arabian desert are suicidal, they cost so much energy in water its just painful to think about the numbers. The tiny Libyans have already used up most of their underground water on the coast (mainly because they irrigate a total area the size of PL year-round) and Yemen will be out of water altogether in 2025 precipitating their own extinction. PL should have enough farms to feed itself, it should not export anything other than naturally-occurring plants like palm trees and frankincense.

[D-Runner]

Mckuus

Whether or not charcoal burning impacted Puntland environment is not up for debate, it is a known fact. And if I were in Farool's shoes today I would have denied the charcoal burners in Puntland our market. Instead I would have made sure only Harigesa and Muqdisho burned charcoal gets the states seal of approval to sell in our markets; a fine solution don't you think?

As for your baloney, the fact is aside from particular areas near the Kenyan/Somali borders and that of Borame district the rainfall is variable and sparse across much of Somalia with no one area receiving more than 400mm of rain annually.



You bet Puntland is bound to become a flourishing agriculture and oil export once it succeeds in capturing its resources. The rain water that goes down to the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea and the many yet to be discovered aquifers are enough to quench the whole nations thirst.



Soo ducee and quit farting sxb.

[Mckuus]

^ That map you selected is rainfall during the month February only, which is in the Jilaal dry season.

This is the correct map for the entire year - showing major regional differences:



Puntland annual rainfall is between 100 to 200 mm mostly.

The South receives A LOT more rain, nearly double/triple that.

Those Arabs go overboard with their shit, they even export wheat. There's a difference between fetching water and water mining, PLers should not go into water-mining, which is the commercial over-drafting of water. They should use enough to feed their animals and perhaps have a modest garden per family. PL is not meant to naturally sustain commercial farming and it should be fought against. The farms you see in the new satellite images of Bosaso are more artisan in nature than commercial, and that is okay with me. I think, with our population/growth trends and the natural water tables we have, we are easily self-sustaining and have a lot of room, but we should definitely not test the limits. Those pivot-style irrigation setups you see in the Arabian desert are suicidal, they cost so much energy in water its just painful to think about the numbers. The tiny Libyans have already used up most of their underground water on the coast (mainly because they irrigate a total area the size of PL year-round) and Yemen will be out of water altogether in 2025 precipitating their own extinction. PL should have enough farms to feed itself, it should not export anything other than naturally-occurring plants like palm trees and frankincense.

Wise man

[Mckuus]

Mean Annual Rainfall (mm) in Somalia

Source: http://www.faoswalim.org/downloads/mean ... infall.xls

Marere 766
Jilib 663
Alessandra 600
Mogambo 591
Afgoi 584
Baidoa 577
Sablaale 568
Bur_acaba 567
Afmadow 550
Balad 545
Borama 543
Lafoole 526
Shiekh 515
Villabruzzi 498
Jowhar 492
Genale 487
Modun 486
Mogadisho 474
Bardera 473
Dinsor 470
Barro_weyne 453
Giumbo 442
Burdhuxul 438
Gebiley 436
Jamame 435
Mahaddey_weyne 424
Kismayo 419
Hargeisa 418
Jameco_mubarak 390
Jonte 383
Brava 376
Huddur 355
Belet_weyne 330
Bulo_burti 328
Erigavo 305
Luuq 271
El_mugne 251
Burao 236
Obbia 206
El_bur 205
Galcayo 168
Eil 162
Las_anod 130
Qardo 112
Scusciuban 72
Capo_guardafui 64
Berbera 20
Alula 14
Bosaso 11

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

I noticed regions that are more arid are usually more food secure. Northern Bari gets the lowest rainfall in Somalia yet its people are the most food secure not just in PL but in all of Somaliweyn. In PL, Mudug and Nugaal have the highest rainfall yet historically and today they are always the most food insecure in PL. Very strange. It must tell you about how necessity has forced some (Bari communities) to cope with the disparities and go above and to prosper on entirely new levels.

[Mckuus]

I noticed regions that are more arid are usually more food secure. Northern Bari gets the lowest rainfall in Somalia yet its people are the most food secure not just in PL but in all of Somaliweyn. In PL, Mudug and Nugaal have the highest rainfall yet historically and today they are always the most food insecure in PL. Very strange. It must tell you about how necessity has forced some (Bari communities) to cope with the disparities and go above and to prosper on entirely new levels.

I don't know how accurate the data for ''Capo_guardafui'' is. If the weather station is right on the coast I can understand the low rainfall figures, but if they had measured it a mile inland it could be more on the level of Erigavo as the Ras Caseyr mountains tend to be quite green.

[Monk-of-Mogadishu]

I agree. I'm also puzzled by the stats for all of northeastern Bari since its all mountainous and very green year-round.

[D-Runner]

Bari, Puntland