Garowe Urban Baseline Report

Between 16th April and 11th May 2011 FSNAU conducted a baseline livelihoods assessment of Garowe town. The main objectives of
the study have been to analyze the performance of different socio-economic sectors in Garowe and their importance in sustaining
urban livelihoods; to assess the linkages between the urban livelihood system and the surrounding rural and urban areas within
Somalia as well as with countries outside Somalia; to examine the key risks (including gender dimensions) that predispose the
urban poor to livelihood and food insecurity; to identify key monitoring indicators that can inform sustainable urban interventions
related to advocacy, programming and development planning; and to build the capacity of key partners on the use of HEA and
SLA frameworks in urban baseline surveys.
This study applies FSNAU’s expanded Baseline Livelihood Analytical framework which integrates the Household Economy
Approach (HEA), the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) and market analysis for contextualizing and crosschecking livelihood
information. To aid data collection Garowe town was divided into seven quarters or sections (degmo) and further subdivided into
27 sub-sections (laan). From these a total of 59 wealth groups and seven community representative interviews were conducted.
The reference year for the baseline study was January-December 2011 because this was the most recent full commercial period
making recall of events easier.