Region
Lower Shabelle
Lower Shabelle is Somalia's biggest farming region, along the Shabelle river south-west of Mogadishu, with Marka (Merca) as its capital and about 835,000 to 1.59 million people. The government holds the main towns and al-Shabaab most of the farmland, and fighting and land disputes have driven over 78,000 people from their homes.
Who lives there
Estimates for September 2024 run from about 835,000 people (IOM) to 1.59 million (IPC). The region has seven districts: Marka (the capital), Afgooye, Wanla Weyn, Qoryooley, Baraawe (the official capital of South West State), Kurtunwaarey and Sablaale. Many communities live there, including Somali Bantu farmers and smaller groups who are often left out (EUAA 2025).
Conflict displaced 78,367 people from April 2023 to March 2025, most from Kurtunwaarey and Qoryooley.
Work and money
The region grows more food than any other in Somalia (EUAA 2025).
- Day pay: farm work pays about $4 a day, selling milk $3 to $4, and gathering firewood 50 cents (Radio Ergo, Jul 2026).
- Costs: one family spent $200 on sorghum, maize and bean seed. Water in the Afgooye camps costs 4,000 shillings (about $0.70) a jerrycan (Radio Ergo, Oct 2025).
Who governs
The federal government and South West State hold the towns of Marka, Baraawe, Qoryooley, Bulo Mareer, Afgooye and Wanla Weyn, with army units and African Union troops from Uganda. Al-Shabaab holds nearly all the central, southern and south-western land, including Kurtunwaarey, Sablaale, Mubarak and Awdhegle, and takes a share of harvests as tax (EUAA 2025). In Afgooye's Eyle camp, a committee of host families collects food for new arrivals (Radio Ergo).
What people face now
- May 2026: local armed groups fought over farmland near Beder. More than 50 families fled to Buufow-Ba'ad near Marka. Canals were cut, nothing was planted that season, and no aid was reported (Radio Ergo).
- May 2025: fighting near Anoole and Sabiid drove more than 500 families to Eyle camp in Afgooye, where each family gets 20 litres of water a day (Radio Ergo).
- Violence: 1,416 incidents and 2,122 deaths from April 2023 to March 2025, with Afgooye worst hit (639). Drone strikes on 18 March 2024 killed 23 civilians. A local clash in Qoryooley in July 2024 displaced about 2,100 people (EUAA 2025).
Top needs
- Food, water and shelter for families fleeing fighting and land disputes.
- Records of who farms which land, kept by farmers themselves.
- Farm work and seed for farmers who lost a season.
- School places for children taken out of school when they fled.
- Recognition for communities who are often left out, including Somali Bantu families.
Sources
- EUAA 2025 · euaa.europa.eu
- Radio Ergo, Jul 2026 · radioergo.org
- Radio Ergo, Oct 2025 · radioergo.org
Gathered in our research record “Somalia regions”. Wikipedia is used only as a backup.
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