Description of contemporary Somali charcoal trafficking, mostly based on UN sources
Somali youths pull donkey-drawn water carts past sacks of charcoal as a convoy of the Kenyan Contingent serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) makes its way through the city of Kismayo. (2012)Naasa Hablood hills near Hargeysa, Somalia—the mountains in the background are the symbol of the city and can be seen from most vantage points. Here, there are no amenities provided by the state. The water has to be transported by donkey and both light and cooking fuel is provided by an environmentally unsustainable supply of charcoal. (2005)
When the central government of Somalia collapsed in 1991, the once firmly regulated Somali charcoal trade reopened.[1] In the 1990s, the Somali Civil War, destructive El Niño floods, and reduced access to the European market caused the former prosperous banana industry to collapse, leading to an increase in reliance on the charcoal trade.[2]
Charcoal soon became a lucrative cornerstone of the political economy in Somalia and ultimately turned into one of the most important revenues for criminal networks such as Al-Shabaab.[1] Despite international efforts to curb the trade during the 2010s, it periodically flourished and continues to be a politically destabilising factor in the Horn of Africa region.[3]
For centuries, the trading route has been established through trade with Arabs along the East African coast. It begins with cutting down and burning Acacia trees in Somalia, then transporting the charred remains by land to ports in southern Somalia (notably the ports of Kismayo and Barawe) before it is moved north by sea for over 4000 kilometers to hubs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.[3] Despite a UN Security Council ban on all export of Somali charcoal in 2012,[4] the charcoal trade is often disguised as originating from other countries, and corruption of maritime transport and customs officials is common. Once in the Gulf states, middlemen sell the charcoal in smaller quantities to retailers and restaurants for use in shisha water pipes and grilling meat, respectively.[3]
^ abMahajan 2019, pp. 413–414.
^Gridneff 2018, pp. 146–147.
^ abcGridneff 2018, pp. 127–128.
^United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Res 2036 (22 February 2012) UN Doc S/RES/2036
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