# Farming in Somalia: the two harvests, the crops and the land

> Farming in Somalia in numbers: the Gu and Deyr seasons, maize and sorghum harvests, 2025 and 2026 results, cereal prices, the maize and sorghum areas, who owns farmland, and fights over riverine land.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The two seasons

Most crops depend on rain. The main **Gu** season runs from April to June and its crops normally give about **60 percent** of the year's cereal. The second, **[Deyr](/en/economy/pastoralism-in-somalia/)** season runs from October to December, with its harvest in January. Farmers along the Juba and Shabelle rivers also grow an off-season crop on the land the river floods. Lower and Middle Shabelle are the main maize areas, and Bay is the sorghum belt ([FAO GIEWS, Country Brief Somalia, 15 September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)).

## Recent harvests

| Season | Cereal harvest | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Gu, south | About 129,400 tonnes, about 14 percent above the 1995 to 2024 average | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025, citing FSNAU](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) |
| 2025 Gu, north | Only 830 tonnes, about 93 percent below average, after long dry spells, pests and high input costs | [Central Bank of Somalia, Annual Report 2025](https://centralbank.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Annual-Report_2025.pdf) |
| 2025 Deyr, south | About 15,600 tonnes including 3,000 tonnes off-season, 83 percent below average and the lowest Deyr since 1995 | [FSNAU, Post-Deyr 2025 analysis, February 2026](https://fsnau.org/downloads/Somalia_2025_Post_Deyr_IPC_Analyses_Findings_and_Recommendations_Final_-_24_Feb_2026.pdf) |
| 2026 Gu | Below-average, erratic rain; between 25 and 70 percent of cropland in Lower and Middle Shabelle and Bay was in severe drought in mid-June. Late rains helped part of the crop recover, and quelea birds damaged fields | [FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf) |

## Prices

Between January and June 2026, sorghum in Baidoa rose 25 percent and maize in [Qoryooley](/en/regions/qoryooley/) rose 70 percent. In July 2026 both were about twice their price a year earlier. In Mogadishu, diesel rose 65 percent between January and April 2026, which raised the cost of pumping water onto riverside farms and of trucking grain ([FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)). See [Prices and inflation](/en/economy/prices-and-inflation/).

## Hunger

About 6 million people, over 30 percent of the population, faced Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between April and June 2026, including about 1.9 million in Emergency (Phase 4). FAO noted a risk of famine in [Burhakaba](/en/regions/bay/) district, Bay ([FAO GIEWS, September 2026](https://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country/SOM/pdf/SOM.pdf)).

## Who owns the land

The national household survey of 2022 found that **23.3 percent** of households owned and used land: 30.5 percent in villages, 22.8 percent in towns and 11.0 percent among nomads. Most parcels were used for homes (74.8 percent) and 20.9 percent for farming. Among farm parcels with one owner, 71.0 percent were owned by men ([Somalia National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022](https://nbs.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SOMALIA-INTEGRATED-HOUSEHOLD-BUDGET-SURVEY.pdf)).

## Fights over farmland

In July 2026 Radio Ergo reported that more than 50 families had fled fighting over farmland around Beder village in [Lower Shabelle](/en/infrastructure/k50-airstrip/) since early May. The fighting cut irrigation canals and stopped planting. One farm worker who had earned about $4 a day had planned to farm a five-hectare family plot ([Radio Ergo, 2 July 2026](https://radioergo.org/en/2026/07/clan-conflict-over-land-in-lower-shabelle-leaves-families-destitute/)).

## Farm exports

For farming, livestock and fishing firms, see the [farming, livestock and fishing directory](/en/businesses/farming-livestock-and-fishing-directory/) and [Somali commercial farms](/en/businesses/somali-commercial-farms/). For sesame, bananas and lemons, see [Sesame and bananas](/en/economy/sesame-and-bananas/). For live animals, see [Livestock exports](/en/economy/livestock-exports/).

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