Al-Shabaab taxes prevent farmers in Somalia from cultivating crops

The jihadists claimed earlier this year that they had launched a “drought relief” campaign and are known for exploiting the situation to boost its popularity.

News Keydmedia Online
13 June 2022

MOGADISHU, Somalia - More than seven million Somalians are affected by a severe drought while heavy taxes from the al-Shabab jihadist group is preventing farmers from cultivating crops, the president’s office has said.

A quarter of a million people are at risk of starvation, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s special envoy for the drought Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame said on Sunday following a two-day briefing.

“People are fleeing not only the drought but also insecurity. In areas controlled by al-Shabab, the terrorist group has prevented people from farming,” he said.

“Al-Shabab has imposed taxes on the plantation process, soil preparation process, and harvesting. People cannot farm. As for livestock, anyone selling an animal has to pay a tax larger than the value of the animal.”

Farmers are being forced to flee their land and their homes as a result of the al-Shabab taxes, Mr. Warsame said.

The jihadists claimed earlier this year that they had launched a “drought relief” campaign and are known for exploiting the situation to boost its popularity.

Al-Shabab controls vast swathes of Somalia’s most fertile areas, including where the two main rivers, Jubba and Shabelle, traverse.