By Mohamed Abdullahi Omer
What Farmers in Somaliland Taught Us About Climate Change
When people talk about climate change, it can sound complicated. However, for the farmers we met in Somaliland, it is simple: the rains do not come like they used to, the sun is hotter, and growing enough food to feed their families is getting harder every year.
These farmers live in a place called the Gabiley Region. It is known as the “breadbasket” of Somaliland because it grows most of the country’s food. For years, we have heard stories about how difficult farming has become there. We wanted to understand the real situation, not just from reports but from the people living it every day.
Therefore, we started our research project, which you can now read about in the journal Discover Sustainability. We traveled to villages in Gabiley to ask the following three basic questions:
- What changes are farmers observing in the weather?
- What are they doing to deal with these changes?
- What is helping them and what is holding them back?
How We Learned from the Community
This work was not just about handing out papers. It is difficult to obtain a real picture of someone’s life with just a multiple-choice survey. So we did two things.
First, we surveyed 193 farming families to obtain the numbers. This helped us to see the big picture and find patterns. However, the numbers do not tell the whole story.
Second, we sat down and talked with people. We held group discussions in which farmers shared their experiences with each other. We also conducted one-on-one conversations with long-time farmers and local farming experts. These stories provide meaning to the numbers. Combining the surveys with conversations was our biggest success because it gave us a deep and truly human understanding of the situation.
What We Found: A Clear Problem, but Not an Easy Fix
The message from the farmers in Gabiley was powerful and clear. Here are the four main things that we learned.
1. Farmers See Climate Change with Their Own Eyes
Almost every farmer we spoke to (over 86%) said that they knew that the climate was changing. They do not need a scientific report to tell them. They see it when the rains are late, the wells run dry, and their crops struggle. Nearly all of them (94%) have lived through extreme weather events, such as droughts, which are occurring more frequently.
2. There’s a Big Gap Between Knowing and Doing
This is an important discovery. Even though farmers know the problem, they cannot always do everything needed to solve it. On average, farmers used only approximately 45% of the available helpful farming techniques. We call this the “adaptation gap.” It is not that they do not want to adapt; it is that something is stopping them.
3. Farmers Use What They Can Afford
We observed a significant difference in the types of solutions used by farmers.
- Easy and low-cost ideas were popular. For example, almost 85% of farmers had started changing the time when they plant their crops to match the shifting rains. Many were also using special crops that could survive with less water.
- Tougher and more expensive ideas were not. Important techniques, such as building systems to save rainwater, setting up irrigation, or buying better quality seeds, were used by very few people. The reason is simple: these things cost money, require new skills, or require a lot of work.
4. What Helps Farmers Adapt?
So, who is able to do more? We found a few key factors that made a big difference:
- Knowing more helps. Farmers with more education are more likely to try new ideas.
- More hands to help. Larger families had more people to do the work needed for things such as building terraces to save soil.
- Living through it makes you act, she said. Farmers who experienced the worst droughts were the most motivated to try new water-saving methods.
- Younger farmers are often more willing to try new things.
Why This Matters and What We Can Do
This study provides a clear path forward to help farmers grow food in Somaliland. Just telling them about climate change is not enough; they already know. We need to focus on closing that “adaptation gap.”
The following simple steps can make a real difference:
- Share useful knowledge. We need training programs that show farmers how to do things like save water and protect their soil in an easy-to-understand way.
- Farmers should be provided with the right tools and money. This could mean small loans or community programs that help them afford things such as irrigation pipes or better seeds.
- This will provide better information. A good weather forecast can make a significant difference. Early warnings about an impending drought can help a family prepare and save their crops and animals.
Climate change will continue to shape Somaliland’s agricultural future, but vulnerability need not define it. Farmers in Gabiley have already demonstrated determination and adaptability. With the right support, these challenges can be transformed into opportunities for a more resilient, food-secure Somaliland.
This study, while focusing on one region, offers lessons for all semi-arid areas where smallholder farmers are on the frontlines of climate change. Listening to their voices is the first step toward designing solutions that truly work—solutions that are local, inclusive and sustainable.
You can read our full academic paper here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-025-01543-9
