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dissertation entitled

Household Structure, Decision-Making
and the Economic, Social, and Legal Status
of Women in Magadushu, Somalia.

presented by

Furhana Ahmed Bhoola

has been accepted towards fulfillment
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HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE, DECISION-MAKING, AND THE ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL, AND LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

BY

Furhana Ahmed Bhoola

A DISSERTATION
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Anthropology

1988

56.72 4%.?

ABSTRACT

HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE, DECISION-MAKING, AND THE ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL, AND LEGAL STATUS OF WOMEN IN MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

BY
Furhana Ahmed Bhoola

Anthropologists such as Meyer Fortes (1958) have
explained the changes taking place in households with
reference to the "developmental cycle" model which comprises
three specific phases, namely, expansion, dispersal and
replacement. The model posits a rather simple explanation for
the transition from nuclear to extended family households.
It is argued in this dissertation that the household does not
proceed through a sequence of phases, since various factors
and circumstances may cause changes in the household at
various periods in its development, which in turn have a
dramatic impact on the status of women.

A model of "continuous fragmentation" is introduced to
indicate a new'dimension in the study of households and.women.
The model focuses specifically on fragmentation and breaking
up of the household, and the dynamics involved in the actual
mobility of household members. A distinction between
decision-making processes that are culturally determined (male
domain) and those that are economically determined (female
domain), is drawn to elucidate changes in household social
structure, and to show'why it is that changes in the household

effect womens' statuses and roles.

The theoretical perspective summarized above is
illustrated with reference to households and women in
Mogadishu, Somalia. A total of one hundred and fifty heads
of households and one hundred and fifty women were intensively
studied from September 1986 to August 1987. A sample of
seventy women market traders was also part of this study.

The physical form of households in Mogadishu change
according to economic conditions and the decision to migrate.
The progression in the housing sequence is dependant upon
economic opportunities a migrant has access to in Mogadishu.
The social structure of households change due to certain
decisions that derive from both the male and female domains.
The decision to marry, to have more than one wife, and to
dissolve a marriage are the prerogatives of the male domain,
cause fragmentation of the household and exacerbates the
already subordinate economic, social and legal status of
Somali women, The decision to migrate and to engage in income
generating activities are priorities of the female domain, and
may cause fission, but also affords women an opportunity to
gain autonomy and control over the fruits of their labor.
Moreover, bridewealth transactions regulated by the cultural
system attempt to cement unions and to increase household
security.

Somali women make choices conditioned by dire economic
circumstances and constructively contribute to the survival
of the household, despite the constraints of'a‘cultural system

that favors men over women.

Copyright by
FURHANA AHMED BHOOLA
1988

To
my parents who taught me that the quest
for knowledge is unlimited

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this monumental task was made possible
because of the following persons. First and foremost I would
like to thank my spouse, Yassin Wehelie, for his understanding
and assistance in aiding my research. I would like to
acknowledge Saadia Muse Ahmed and the staff of the Women
Research Unit of the Somali Academy of Arts and Sciences for
their continuous support and encouragement in seeing my
research through. I am also indebted to my research
assistant, Xalima Caabdi, not only for the many hours in
tutoring me in Somali, but also for her moral support during
difficult times. Special thanks go to Professor Lidwien
Kapteijns for providing me with valuable guidelines while in
Mogadishu and also from afar, and especially for her
continuous encouragement, support and advise, undoubtedly
without which I would not have probably seen this enterprise
through. My great appreciation and thanks go to Professor Lee
Cassanelli for giving me a more indepth understanding of
Somali society and culture. My friends and family in South
Africa and the USA have always been a driving force throughout
my stay in Mogadishu, and I extend my sincere appreciation to

them as well. Indeed I owe a great deal of professional

ii

wisdom and intellectual stimulation to Professors Judy Pugh,
David Dwyer, Barry Stein and Charles Morrison for the expert
guidance given to me as members of my doctoral committee.

To the numerous Somali families, especially the Somali
women who made this study possible, I owe many thanks and
would like to say manggsaniig. To them I will always remain
d_umg§_n_j., for the friendships formed would not have been
possible without their confidence, total trust and acceptance
of me not only as a member of their community, but also as a
friend for a lifetime. I made many friends in my informants,
the Somali women, many of whom were willing to spend several
hours sharing their trials and tribulations- to them I extend

my gratitude and sincere appreciation.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION.................. ........... 1
Purpose of the Study..................... 1
The Study Area................ ........ ... 3
The Fieldwork Experience......... ..... ... 7
Approach to the Study...... ..... . ....... 12

CHAPTER TWO THE EVOLUTION AND URBANIZATION OF
MOGADISHU IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES 16
Introduction............................ 16
Patterns of Development in Mogadishu in
the 19th Century........................ 17
The Growth of Mogadishu in the 20th
Century................................. 28
Mogadishu Today....... ............ ...... 43
Summary................................. 52

CHAPTER THREE ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE
HOUSEHOLD AND WOMEN......... ............ 55
Introduction............................ 55
The Developmental Cycle and Path
Analysis of the Household............... 56
Contradictions and Controversies

Concerning the Household Model .......... 62
Revitalization of the Concept of the
Household.......................... ..... 66
A Model of Continuous Fragmentation:
Women and the Household....... .......... 72

summarYeeeeoeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 76

CHAPTER FOUR THE DYNAMIC PROCESSES IN HOUSEHOLD SOCIAL
STRUCTURE IN MOGADISHU.... ........ . ..... 79
Introduction............................ 79
Household Structure in Mogadishu........ 80
Household Social Structure and Support

Networks.........OOOOOIOOOOOOOO ...... 0.. 85
Continuous Fragmentation of Households
in Mogadishu............... ....... .....103

summarYOOOOOOOOOOOOIO00......0.0.0.0... 121

iv

CHAPTER FIVE HOUSEHOLD DECISION-MAKING AND WOMENS
WORK................................... 123
Introduction........................... 123
Womens' Work and Contribution to the
Household.............................. 126
Household Decision-Making and Womens'
Economic Status........................ 137
Women Market Traders and Household
Security............................... 141
Household Consumption and Womens' Time-
Use Strategies......................... 148
Summary............................... 154

CHAPTER SIX MARRIAGE TRANSACTIONS, HOUSEHOLD SECURITY
AND THE STATUS OF SOMALI WOMEN......... 157
Introduction........................... 157
Marriage Ritual and Bridewealth
Transactions........................... 158
Divorce and the Economic Position of
Women.................................. 175
Summary................................ 183

CHAPTER SEVEN SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................ 186

BIBLIOGMPHY ......OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.0.0.0000....0... 193

Table
Table

Table

Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table
Table

Table

Table

Table

Table
Table

Table

15

16

17

LIST OF TABLES

Page
Distribution of House Types......... ...... . 83

Occupational specialization of Head of the
Househ°1dI......OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...0...... 88

Income Earned in Households in Mogadishu... 90
Families Renting Houses or Rooms........... 90
Occupation of Women Heads of Households.... 93
Productive and Non-productive Members...... 95
Support Networks Available to Households... 95
Households Receive Support/gag1m_.......... 97
Origin of the Head of the Household....... 116

Occupational Support of Women in Mogadishu 127

Women Trading Activities in Mogadishu ..... 129
Households With Both Spouses Working...... 135
Ownership and Inheritance................. 137
Birthplace/ Place of Origin of Women in

Mogadishu................................. 138
Divorce and Change in Residence... ........ 140

Income Generating Activities of Divorced
womenOOOOIOOOOOOOOOOO0......00.000.00.000. 140

Women in the Market Economy........ ....... 142
Family Support and Market Trade.... ....... 146
Costs Involved in Market Trade.. .......... 147

vi

Table Page

Table 18 Womens' Time-Use Strategies............... 149

Table 19 Patterns of Household Consumption......... 151
Table 20 Marriage Prestations: Megs; and Yarad ..... 167

Table 21 Kin Ties and Arranged Marriages........... 170

Table 22 Divorce and Womens' Economic Status....... 177

vii

Figure

Figure
Figure

Figure

Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure
Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure
Figure

Figure

10.1

10.2

10.3

11

12

13

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Map of Somalia.............................. 4

Mogadishu in the 19th Century......... ...... 22
Spatial Separation of Xamarweyne and

Shangaani......................... ...... .... 26
Town Plan of Mogadishu-1929 ................. 34
Mogadishu in 1935.................. ......... 35
Mogadishu in 1936................... ....... . 36
Town Plan of Mogadishu-1939................. 37
Growth Of Mogadishu from 950 A.D.-1958 ...... 41
Growth of Mogadishu from 1840-1980... ....... 42
Initial Site and Location of Mogadishu...... 47
Household Form 1-Male-Headed Household...... 87
Household Form 2-Female-Headed Household... 87
The Original Household................ ..... 105

Marriage of Son in low Income Household.... 107

Marriage of Daughter in Low Income

Household........... ....................... 108
Marriage of Son in Upper income

Household..................... ............. 108
Polygyny and Household Fragmentation. ...... 112
Divorce and Household Fragmentation........ 114
Migration and Household Fragmentation ...... 118

viii

Figure

Figure 14

Death and Household Fragmentation..... ..... 120

ix

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

WY.

My interest in Somalia is an outcome of multitudinous
interests, some of which derive from intellectual persuasion
as well as personal experience. This dissertation is
therefore the result of a number of factors. The purposes of
this study are two-fold. Firstly, the study of how changes
in household structure in Mogadishu affect the status of
Somali women, is intended to add to the great paucity in the
literature available on Somalia. There is no substantive
literature of any type dealing with these issues. Numerous
writings. especially‘ in Italian. and. English. present. only
certain aspects of Somali history, focusing specifically on
Arab influence and the brief period of Italian colonial rule.‘
A major study of the morphological and geographical aspects
of the city is presented by William Daniel Puzo (1972). More
recent writings on Somalia reflect a tendency to concentrate
on the historical reconstruction of Somali history (Lee
Cassanelli, 1982).

Secondly, I had initially set out to study the social and
cultural principles involved in the organization of household

food management systems in Somalia, and to investigate how

2
these variables affect household decision-making regarding the
procurement of food. On my arrival in Mogadishu in September
1986, I was, however, confronted with a rather unique
phenomenon in Somali society. Keeping in mind that Somali
society is primarily nomadic and rural I was astounded to find
that the city was so overcrowded.

Residential districts were cluttered with "old" and "new"
dwellings lying side by side. It seemed that wherever a vacant
site existed, people flocked to set up their simple dwellings.
Another striking feature that caught my eye after visiting
several households was the lot of the Somali women. In a
number of households visited during my first week in
Mogadishu, I discovered that in most cases the husbands were
working abroad, were unemployed or held no regular paid job.
After my first week of initial visits to a few households, I
soon realized that the mobility of the household members,
especially the head of the households had a great impact on
the economic status of Somali women. Somali women were engaged
in various kinds of economic activities in order to insure the
survival of the household.

I thus realized that there was a significant process
occurring in households in Mogadishu. I set out to formulate
a proposal that would attempt to adequately explain factors
accounting for the dramatic flux in households in Mogadishu,
and to evaluate the impact that these changes had on the

social, economic and legal status of Somali women. I decided

3
that the household would be the main unit in this study of
changing household structure and the status of women in
Mogadishu. In this dissertation I shall attempt to provide
an analysis of the changing status of Somali women via the
formation and fragmentation of the household. The impact of
social and economic changes on the roles and life experiences
of women in Somali society is thus the primary focus. I will
argue that the changes in household social structure (the
changes themselves conditioned by decision-making processes
both culturally and economically determined), significantly
alter the position of women in Somali society. Furthermore,
I suggest that Somali women have to be viewed as actors
seeking to rewrite their histories despite the constraints of
a cultural system that favors men over women. It is only by
viewing women as actors, deliberately utilizing techniques to
minimize and manipulate their subordinate status, will we be
able to understand the dilemmas and contradictions in their

lives.
T e u

The Somali Democratic Republic is located in the Horn of
Africa and has an area of 637,700 sq.km. The coastline
stretches for over 3,000 km. along the Gulf of Aden in the
north and the Indian Ocean in the east. The main part of the

country is made up of a large plateau that gradually slopes

Figure 1
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5

towards the east from.the‘Harar Highlands to the Indian Ocean.
Somalia is no longer the Land of Punt, the legendary fertile
home of the incense tree, immortalized in the wall drawings
of the ancient Egyptians. A harsh and arid land, effectively
isolated from its neighbors by stretches of forbidding semi-
desert, it has never been part of East African life or
development.

The semi arid climate of Somalia is determined by its
location in the equatorial zone and by the low rainfall
pattern. There are basically four seasons, two wet and two
dry' determined. by ‘the northeast. and southwest; monsoons.
Traditionally the rainy seasons are known as times of "milk
and honey" and the dry seasons as times of "drought and
hardship." No matter what the season, the harsh climatic
conditions have produced a situation where the well recognized
Somali talents of mobility, flexibility and ingenuity are
repeatedly called upon to wrest a mere subsistence living from
the land, :More than.half’the population is engaged in rearing
livestock, the principal economic activity in Somalia.
Livestock herding, crop production and fishery are the three
major contributors to the country's GDP and its food resource
base.

The Somali people are a homogeneous race with a strong
national identity based on a shared linguistic, cultural, and
religious background. Somalis are of Hamitic stock and are

virtually all Sunni Muslims. They speak the Somali language,

6

although Italian and English are the semi-official languages
used by the government in education and in commerce.2
Somalia is also predominantly a patrilineal society where the
lifestyle is suited to men's conveniences and the traditional
role of women buttresses and supports this orientation. Women
are depended upon to perform a biased division of labor, which
for the pastoral family includes moving the family encampment,
fetching water, collecting firewood, cooking and milking the
sheep, goats and cows entrusted to their care. Meanwhile the
men sit under the shade of the tree discussing where to graze,
where to settle and when to move.3

The city of Mogadishu is one of the larger urban centers
in Africa with a population of approximately one million
inhabitants. Mogadishu dominates the political, cultural and
economic life of Somalia and is perhaps the most important
urban center in the country. It is located on the Indian
Ocean Coast of the Somali Democratic Republic. The city is
centrally situated in relation to the more populated areas of
former Italian Somaliland on the coast south of the Shebelli
River Basin and the interriverine plateau between the Shebelli
and Juba rivers. The Shebelli and Juba rivers and the plateau
between them are the most populated and productive large areas
in Somalia.

Mogadishu has no direct ties to urban centers and areas
outside of Somalia. The city and its hinterland are

effectively detached from the northern region of Somalia,

formerly British Somaliland" The Somali have no urban
tradition and all the major towns in the country have been
founded by either Arabs or Europeans. In nearly all cases,
the towns and cities of Somalia, including Mogadishu, are now
populated almost exclusively by Somalis with only a few
percent of the urban population comprised of Asians and
Europeans. The urban system is one which has only recently
been adopted by the Somalis and many adjustments and

adaptations have yet to be made.

On my arrival in Mogadishu in September 1986, I made
contact with the Somali Academy of Arts and Sciences (SOMAC).
I met with the researchers and staff of the Womens Research
Unit of SOMAC. The President of SOMAC granted me permission
to do my research and requested that urban families be helpful
and cooperative in providing me with information for my
research. Another letter from the Governor of Mogadishu
instructed all District Commissioners to grant me permission
to visit and study households in their districts and to
provide any help that I might need. No doubt these initial
steps greatly facilitated my research and I was able to
commence data collection not long after my arrival in

Mogadishu.

8

I also tried to obtain written information in the way of
special reports and publications concerning women and urban
households in Mogadishu. The only substantial piece of
literature I was able to locate was a "situational analysis"
titled.W9mgn_and_ghild;§n_in_§gmalia_prepared by the Ministry
of National Planning and UNICEF (1984) . Other literature
pertaining to women was provided to me by the Womens Research
Unit, and focused primarily on the practice of female
circumcision and infibulation.‘ No literature concerning
urban household structure was available.

In defining the target population certain factors were
taken into consideration: the first involved defining the
section of the population to be studied and the second,
delimiting the geographic area to be covered. A farrago of
research. ‘methodologies 'were 'used. namely, participant
observation, survey interview questionnaires, informal
interviews and.case studies. .A total of one hundred and fifty
heads of households and one hundred and fifty women were
intensively studied from September 1986 to August 1987. A
sample of seventy women market traders was also part of this
study.

The five districts of Wadajir, Hodan, Xamarweyne,
Yaaqshiid and Wardhiigleey were relegated as the main
geographic areas to be studied. Mogadishu comprises thirteen
districts or gggmg of varying size, composition and history.

The five gggmg of Wadajir, Hodan, Xamarweyne, Yaaqshiid and

9
Wardhiigleey were purposively selected on the basis of
information given to me by the Womens Research Unit. These
districts represent various economic, cultural and social
structural strata and dimensions of households in Mogadishu.
Below is a description of each district selected indicating
the reasons and the criteria used in selection.

Wadaj ir was established just over a decade ago as an
overspill area for the rapidly increasing population of
Mogadishu. The increasing rate of urban. migration. has
resulted in a heavy burden for Wadajir as it has far exceeded
its original dimensions. This district was selected since it
is recently established and reflects to a great extent the
rapid urbanization of Mogadishu. Hodan, which was my home for
a year, is also one of the most highly developed residential
areas and covers the periphery of the city. As the city
spread inland from the coast, Hodan was established. It is
the most affluent section of Mogadishu with the largest
proportion of higher income households and.was thus selected.

Xamarweyne comprises the original site of the city said
to be founded in the thirteenth century or earlier. Even today
Mogadishu is often referred to as gama; or town. This district
forms a separate social and economic structure with.a resident
community composed mainly of the old established town-based
families who are still involved in trade, commerce, and
property ownership. Its unique cultural aspects were a basis

for selection. Yaaqshiid is one of the poorest districts and

10

was therefore selected to represent low income families. ZLike
Hodan it is situated at the periphery of the city.
Wardhiigleey (meaning "tales of blood") is a vast residential
area that has spread inland. Originally the site of a small
village that functioned as a livestock holding area, its
graphic name is said to derive from the violence and disputes
that formerly characterized the location. Today the district
extends to the very edge of the city and has seen successive
ways of residential construction. and. an. increasing
concentration of inhabitants. It is representative of a poor
to middle class area.

The five districts chosen for study are representative
of various economic and social strata. The districts were
purposively selected and the households were randomly sele-
cted. It should be pointed out that identifying poor homes
from middle to upper income homes was based on physical
characteristics of the homes. Upper income homes usually have
huge gates and a watchman guarding the home. The economic
status of the households divided into poor, middle and upper
income was based on an observation of physical
characteristics, namely, structure of the building, household
furnishings, availability of electricity and running water,
and the monthly income of the household. The monthly income
was based on the earnings of the head of the household as well
as other family member's income generating activities. The

contributions made to the household by individual, immediate

11
family members living away from the household were also
included in calculating the monthly income.

My easy acceptance into Somali society may be attributed
to the fact that I was married to a Somali. My Somali
informants were quite willing to dispense with information on
learning that I was "Somali." In no time at all, I was
everyone's gumaghi or sister-in-law. During the course of my
study of households and women in Mogadishu, my research
assistant, Xalima and myself were always surrounded by many
people, neighbors and passers-by, all eager to know what my
intention was. In most instances Xalima and I would sit
outside in the yard under shady trees fanned by a gentle
breeze because of the extreme heat, especially if the homes
were constructed of wood and iron. This setting was more
common with low income families. When interviewing upper
income families, however, we were always invited inside the
home in a more private setting, away from the noisy and
tumultuous crowds in the street.

My research experience in Mogadishu was not without
event. On one occasion Xalima and I clashed.with staff of the
Census Bureau who were visiting households in Hodan compiling
the 1987 census. I presented the letters of permission
allowing me to carry out my research. The staff were not
convinced. and.‘marched. us. to .the District Commissioner's
office. I explained my field of study and research plans to

the deputy District Commissioner making it very clear that my

12
interests were purely academic. Once convinced, he allowed
us to go. On another occasion, when interviewing women
traders in the Xamarweyne market, Xalima and I were confronted
by a rather unpleasant situation. We had been accompanied by
a woman who was the Deputy District Commissioner of Xamar-
weyne. While interviewing a woman trader who sold eggs, a few
teenagers tried to disrupt our interviewing. Within seconds
we were surrounded by a large group of people all anxious to
know what was going on. Eventually the Deputy District
Commissioner brought the situation under control by calling
a militiaman to disperse the crowd and reprimand the teen-
agers. We were able to continue with our interviewing in the

Xamarweyne market without any further ado.

o h tud

The approach that I present in this study, is more in
line with Jane Guyer's (1981) and Robert McCNetting's (1984)
study of the household, laying great emphasis on social
structure and decision-making processes. Meyer Fortes's
concept of the "developmental cycle" as applied to household
composition and structure is challenged, and an attempt is
made to introduce a new dimension to the study of women in
urban households in Mogadishu. It will be argued that the
household does not go through a sequence of stages in its

development, but that any one of the stages may operate at

13

different time periods. I will be analyzing the forces at
play in households in Mogadishu, by propoundimg a model of
"continuous fragmentation." The model presented here focuses
on the disintegration and breaking up of the household at
various phases in its development. The model of continuous
fragmentation focuses specifically on decision-making
processes in both the male and female domains. The decisions
that radically alter the structure of households are those
concerning marriage, divorce, polygyny and migration, and form
part of the male domain and are culturally conditioned. The
decisions that ensure the survival of the household on a day
to day basis are those concerning the female domain and are
economically determined. In essence then, this dissertation
is an attempt to explain the contradictions and dilemmas
present in the status of Somali women. On one hand the
cultural system enforces their subordinate status and excludes
women from participating in decisions relegated to the male
domain. On the other hand the economic sphere allows a woman
to have a certain degree of autonomy and control over her
destiny and in particular her ability to secure the survival
of the household.

In view of the above, I have organized the dissertation
in the following way. Chapter two presents a discussion of
Mogadishu in light of the factors that explain its rapid
growth and expansion in the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries. I believe that this is an important step towards

14

understanding why a country that is primarily nomadic is
advancing towards an "urban culture." Furthermore, chapter
two sets the stage for the analysis of the changes taking
place in ‘households in lMogadishu, the subject of later
chapters. Chapter three analyzes the anthropological
approaches to the study of households and outlines a
conceptual framework for understanding the urban Somali
experience.

The formation and composition of households is the
subject matter in chapter four. Moreover, the model
propounded in chapter three will be explored in relation to
the dynamic processes taking place in household social
structure in Mogadishu. The processes in household decision-
making introduced in chapter four will be analyzed further in
chapter five, paying particular attention to the factors that
actually account for the changing economic status of Somali
women. Chapter six focuses on the social and legal status of
Somali women by exploring the mechanisms involved in marriage
transactions that may in fact decrease or increase household
security. Chapter seven summarizes the arguments set forth
in this dissertation and draws certain conclusions for such

a study.

15
Netes

1. For a discussion of these aspects see Ali Abdirahman
Hersi, e Ara Fact ' Somali Histo : ' ins

Development of Arab Enterprise and Culturel Influences in rne
Semeli Peginsgla (1977); the numerous writings of I. M. Lewis
(1955a, 1958, 1960, 1961a, 1965a, 1965b): Lee Cassanelli, The

WW (1982) and Edward Alpers, "Mogadishu
in the Nineteenth Century: A Regional Perspective," Journel
WW. (1983) vol- 24. pp- 441-459.

2. The Somali language is now a written language and the
advantages of its use as a medium of instruction in the lower
schools have already been proven by results achieved in
elementary and secondary levels.

3. A variety of perceptions as to the work-loads of both.men
and women.exist~ ‘Women.are responsible for'work.stemming from
both their reproductive and productive roles, while men are
responsible for work connected with only their productive
roles. When assessing work responsibilities women recognize
two categories while men tend to only recognize productive
work as real work.

4. See H. T. Laycock, "Surgical Aspects of Female Circum-

cision in Somaliland," East African Medical Joerral, vol. 27

(1950); Raqiyya Haji Dualleh Abdallah, Sisters in Affliction
(1982); Dr. Mahdi Ali Dirie, Female Qircumcision in Somalia;
Medic d Soci m 'cat ons, (1985): and Sadiya M. Ahmed,
Aamina Warsame and Aud Talle, Social and Culrurel Aepecte ef

Femele Qireumcision (1985).

CHAPTER TWO

THE EVOLUTION AND URBANIZATION OF MOGADISH'U
IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES

Introduction

Mogadishu was founded in the year 900 A.D. by Arabs and
is one of the oldest cities in Africa south of the Sahara.
The Arabs dominated Mogadishu for nearly a thousand years, yet
in its evolution and rapid expansion from a coastal town to
the most important city in Somalia, factors other than the
Arab influence have affected Mogadishu's growth. Much ink has
been spilled in a tediously repetitious fashion on the nature
and peculiarities of the Somali social system. I will
dispense with unnecessary details and present in this chapter
a discussion of the main factors that drastically altered the
size and composition of Mogadishu in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.

The concerns presented in this chapter are two-fold.
The first is devoted to an analytical discussion of the
patterns of urban development in the nineteenth century,
including the beginnings of the formation of a dominant class
in Mogadishu. The second evaluates the dramatic revival and

growth of Mogadishu in the twentieth century.

16

17
'1 ‘41: .- _:.1 D-v- eon-1t o o-ad'sh in t e 't
92031111..

Between the years 900 A.D. and the fourteenth century,
Mogadishu evolved from a small coastal settlement to one of
the two largest cities on the East African coast and its
importance has continued to rise ever since. Mogadishu in the
nineteenth century was a shadow of its former splendid self.
The famous description given by Ibn Battuta in 1331 shows
Mogadishu in its heyday (Neville Chittick, 1982, pp. 45-62).
Five centuries later the picture presented of Mogadishu showed
a city whose heyday had long since passed.

A slight digression at this stage will help explain the
reasons as to why dramatic fluctuations in the size and
composition of Mogadishu existed. When the Portuguese entered
the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu was apparently still a wealthy
community which drove an important overseas trade based on its
complementary relationship with the Arujaan imamate of the
interior (Lee Cassanelli, 1982, ch. 3). Certainly there was
no commercial collapse, for in the middle of the seventeenth
century its principal towns- Mogadishu, Marka, and Baraawe
traded independently with small vessels from Surat (John R.
Jensen, 1973, p. 46). During this period, however, the
gradual infiltration of Mogadishu by Hawiyya Somali groups of
the hinterland brought about a major transformation of the
town, including the abandonment of certain quarters which had

existed in medieval times an apparent reduction of its total

18

population. By about 1700 the entire political structure of
the town was altered with the ascendancy of a new line of
Abgaal Yaquub imams who resided in Shangaani, the northern
moiety of the town, but whose power base remained among the
people of the interior (Lee Cassanelli, 1982, pp. 73-93). The
Abgal domination of Shangaani left the older elite of
Xamarweyne, the other moiety of the town without significant
allies in the interior.

Against the background discussed above, I will now turn
to explore the factors that help explain the ebb and flow in
the growth and expansion of Mogadishu as a primate city, in
particular paying close attention to the division between the
two moieties of the city, namely Xamarweyne and Shangaani.
The discussion of Mogadishu in the nineteenth century follows
closely the arguments set forth by Edward Alpers in his
magnificent reconstruction of the historical development of
Mogadishu (1983). The primary sources of Commander Thomas
Smee and others are quoted from Alpers' article.

By the early years of the nineteenth century Mogadishu
and.two others principal towns, Marka and Baraawe seem to have
settled into a pattern of regular if modest trade with boats
plying the maritime routes between India, Arabia,and Zanzibar.
Figure 1 gives some indication of the initial cite and
location of Mogadishu. Exports included cattle, slaves, ivory
and ambergris. Commander Thomas Smee learned in 1811 that

Mogadishu "is not very considerable, may contain 150 to 200

19
houses, it has not any river near it, and has but little
trade" (Thomas Smee, 1811, pp. 93). W.F.W. Owen, a British
naval captain gave the following description of Mogadishu in

1833.

Mukdeesha, the only town of any importance

upon the coast is the mistress of a considerable
territory...At a distance the town has rather an
imposing appearance, the buildings being of some
magnitude and composed of stone. . .It is divided into
two distinct towns, one called Umarween, and

the other Chamgany, the latter of which with
justice may be called ‘the city of the dead'
being entirely composed of tombs. Umarween has
nearly one hundred and fifty stone houses, built
in the Spanish style...Arab dows visit this
place..., to exchange sugar, molasses, dates...
for ivory, gums, and a particular cloth of their
own manufacture, which is much valued by the
people of the interior (Owen, 1833, pp. 357-358).

Owen's statement is the first.documented reference to»the town
moieties by name and is accurate in so far as Shangaani does
contain a large number of monumental tombs than does
Xamarweyne. It is also noteworthy for its reference to the
importation rather than the exportation of slaves at
Mogadishu.‘

The division of the town into two distinct moieties is
also referred to by Charles Guillain. Tracing the decline of
the town back to the seventeenth century he concludes:

Its division into two quarters was produced
by the abandonment, then the collapse of the
intermediary buildings, and the disunion
between the inhabitants of both became easier
when the existing government was no longer
sufficiently equitable or respected to -
maintain them in harmony of views and
interests. Nevertheless, it is only in the

last years that the inhabitants of Shangaani
have ceased attending the mosque of

20

Xamarweyne (Guillain, 1844, pp. 525-6).

On the basis of the literary evidence then, it would appear
that the long process of differentiation into two spatially
separated moieties was brought to a rapid climax during these
troubled years.2

Given the various disruptions of this fluid decade, it
is not surprising that when William Christopher visited the
town in 1843 he described most of its inhabitants, some 3,000
to 4,000, as living in "filth and poverty" and commented that
its buildings were "half in ruins" (W. Christopher, 1843, pp.
87-88). Guillain's impressions of Mogadishu four years later
differ little from those of his British predecessor.
Notwithstanding a few new or restOred buildings, most of the
old stone houses were in a state of disrepair, while the
beehive stick and mud huts of the Somali, with their straw
roofs, were scattered among them "like the nests of sparrows
crouched among the ruins" (Charles Guillain, 1833, pp. 507-
526). The total population, including slaves, he estimated
to be about 5,000. Of these Guillain reckoned that three
quarters resided in Xamarweyne, which he lauded for its
tranquility under the firm rule of Sheikh Muumin Xassan, in
contrast to the unsettled state of Shangaani. Guillain's
conclusion was that "the state of misery and depopulation
where it is found today," would lead in fifty years to the

total collapse of Mogadishu if the process of decay was not

21

halted (Charles Guillain, 1833, pp. 507-514). The face of
Mogadishu in the nineteenth century is shown in Figure 2.

Manifestly, Mogadishu did not collapse. In fact it
experienced a significant revival in the second half of the
nineteenth century which was based on the steady integration
of Mogadishu and its hinterland into the economic orbit of
Omani Zanzibar through the medium of Indian merchant capital.
More specifically, Edward Alpers (1983) suggests that there
is a strong case to be made for the proposition that this
upswing in the fortunes of the entire Benaadir region was
based upon the rapid development of commodity production based
on slave labour.a

Unfortunately, little is known of the slave population
of Mogadishu until the end of the century. Georges Revoil,
who spent several months there in 1882, notes only that two-
thirds of the town's population was either slave or neeieni,
which he defines as the liberated great-grandchildren of
slaves (1885, p. 39). He also comments that due to the high
price of camels at Mogadishu, the numerous sesame-seed oil
mills in the city were powered by slave labor. But it is not
until 1897 when.the Italian.administrationwwas confronteduwith
the problem of slavery throughout its new colony, that we get
any sort of detailed picture of what had become a developed

slave-labor economy.

22

Figure 2
Mogadishu in the 19th Century

 

UNCHARTEO. .........

o
e
......
‘‘‘‘‘‘

 

3H". " .
““0." Tone Ham -
:5... a
Do.
‘9'". . ch“... ! Ale-veg... 40- Sen-bunch:
HAMAR JEN;
P"
N
A ~ 0
\
0
s
\
O
\
. MOGADISHU - 1897
Q
O .
”maven! Structures
< . > Tar-norm Structures

1 0‘3 0 0 O o 0 I I 9 l-le-e-eo

' . . . v . fl 1 I Com-mm! Doslnct

. n. .3. 0.. .0. 3... ' O...

2

 

Clam Camus

”I

 

 

Source: W. D. Puzo (1972)

23

According to the Royal Commissioner, Giorgio Sorrentino,
"the fields are cultivated by slaves, who also take care of
all domestic duties: the arts and crafts are the work of the
same slaves, of .Arab, of 'va ias, and Indians" (Giorgio
Sorrentino, 1912) . If the use of slave labor among the
artisans of Mogadishu was more pronounced at the end of the
nineteenth century than previously, however, this did not
represent a major disruption of the social division of labor,
as all artisans did work which was regarded as being
"undignified and shameful" for a free man to do (Edward
Alpers, 1983, pp. 79-84).

According to Robecchi-Bricchetti, in 1891 the ivory trade
of the entire Benaadir was almost completely in the hands of
Indians and vaniae (Muslim and Hindu Asians). There were few
Somali and Arabs, he reports, ‘who possess sufficient money
to acquire an appropriate piece of cotton stuff to serve as
medium of exchange' (1904, p. 593).

The Italian anti-slavery campaigner, Luigi Robecchi-
Bricchetti, actually made a careful census of the entire slave
and liberated population in Mogadishu in order to illuminate
the problem for the Italian public and claimed that the
results give "an approximate and realistic figure of the true
free and slave population of the country" (1904, p. 58). The
results of this remarkable document reveal that out of the
permanent.population of nearly 6,700 more than.31 percent were

still slaves, while another 4 per cent included in the free

24

population had been liberated since 1894 (Robecchi-Bricchetti,
1904, pp. 68-70). By itself, however, this hypothesis does
not explain the driving force behind the transformation of
Mogadishu and its hinterland in the second half of the
nineteenth century. For a complete appreciation of this
process we must return to the role of the Indian merchant
capitalists. Evidence points to the increasing domination by
their trading houses of the commerce of the entire Benaadir
(Edward Alpers, 1983).

It remains to say something about the persistent problem
of moiety competition in Mogadishu. Georges Revoil provides
plenty of evidence for the sharpness of the rivalry between
Xamarweyne and Shangaani in 1882, and took care "to preserve
an absolute neutrality in order not to offend the
sensibilities of the hostile parties of Mogadishu" (1885, p.
39). He ‘was impressed. by' the 'wall erected. to jprotect
Xamarweyne against hostile incursions of the inhabitants of
Shangaani, and.by the fact that the doors of the ancient Fakru
Diin mosque which faced the garesa and bordered the central
market area, had been walled up so that the mosque was
absolutely reserved to the inhabitants of Xamarweyne. One
element in the pattern of competition may prove to be the
willingness of each moiety to conclude external alliances in
order to overcome the dominant position of its rival. For
example in the 18405 Shangaani seems to have been still

considered the more established, if perhaps not dominant half

25

of the town, and there was apparently no obvious challenge
from Xamarweyne to the imam's appointment of an ebreeg for
both Christopher and Guillain from the Ashraaf of Shangaani.‘

Xamarweyne's indifference to Europeans which was based
on its combined domination of the trade of the interior and
the official Zanzibar connection, ultimately turned into
outright hostility as the nineteenth century political economy
of the town was increasingly threatened by European
colonialism. In 1891 Robecchi-Bricchetti was menaced at the
gate of xamarweyne and called the quarter anti-European while
six years later the Italian Governor's residence had been
built in Shangaani, because it was believed that Shangaani had
always been less hostile to whites than its rival. The larger
history of resistance and realignment in the hinterland of
Mogadishu, including its bearing upon coastal town politics,
has been carefully reconstructed by Lee Cassanelli (1982).
The point to be made here is that quite apart from any other
considerations, familiar interpretive questions of resistance
and accommodation or collaboration must also be understood in
light of the nineteenth century tradition of intense moiety
competition between Xamarweyne and Shangaani.5 Figure 3 shows
the permanent and temporary structures and the spatial

separation of Xamarweyne and Shangaani.

26

Figure 3

Spatial Separation of Xamarweyne and Shangaani

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>351.

Ixcgnx §s(
=A:sx

 

. I'll: I’ll]

 

%
ctfia

9533910..
.czol.o
3923 502M.

 

\
\
\

\

\

I
,

 

 

.aszssss .
...-s .53.. ..- - .

038°:

\

 

 

 

 

Edward A Alpers (1983)

Source

27

Whatever the patterns of urban development in Mogadishu
in earlier times may have been, it clearly conformed to wider
coastal East African dynamics during the nineteenth century,
when the intensified penetration of Indian merchant capital
under the overlapping umbrellas of British India and Omani
Zanzibar began the process of transformation that would lead
ultimately to Italian colonial rule. And while it is evident
that the process of Hawiyya penetration that dates back to the
seventeenth century gave Mogadishu a resolutely Somali
cultural tradition that marks it off from the major towns of
the Swahili coast, it is equally certain that the urban
characteristics of Mogadishu place it firmly in the regional
context of the coast of East Africa.

During the nineteenth century Mogadishu experienced a
significant revival in its fortunes after several centuries
of gradual decline from its medieval heyday. While it
remained on the periphery of the Omani empire on the coast of
East Africa, steady commercial penetration of Indian merchant
capital based at Zanzibar inexorably drew the entire Benaadir
coast into the Omani orbit. Massive infusions of slave labor
transformed agricultural commodity production in the Benaadir
hinterland and created a new basis for ruling class
collaboration between town and country. At Mogadishu these
external factors intertwined with established internal
rivalries which were based on moiety competition and the

traditional search for supporting alliances in the hinterland.

28

The end result of this complex process was increased
competition and tension between the town moieties that
affected both the spatial segregation of the two quarters and
enabled first Omani Zanzibar and then Italy to insinuate
themselves into a dominant mediating position within the urban
community. At the end of the century the urban culture of
Mogadishu had also been influenced by the incorporation of a
large slave population. While all of these changes indicate
that Mogadishu was integrally part of the wider coastal region
of East Africa, other cultural evidence establishes no less

that it was still uniquely Somali within that context.

a ' ' t' t e tu

The nineteenth century may be termed the period of
decline and constant rivalries in the city of Mogadishu. The
twentieth century however, reflects an increasing revival of
the city, especially as its relates to urbanization. Three
years after the colony of Somalia.was established by the Ital-
ians, the basic law of April 5, 1908 united all the areas of
southern Somalia into a single administration at Mogadishu
under the name Somalia Italiana (Hess, 1966, p. 102). The
strong, central colonial rule thus established in Mogadishu
provided a considerable stimulus to growth for the city.

During Luigi Cufino's visit in 1914, Xamarweyne and

Shangaani still accounted.for most of the estimated 12,000 in-

29

habitants of Mogadishu (L.Cufino, 1916). Due to the increased
population many migrants to the city were living in huts
outside of the old sections and within the standing ruins
outside the city. Cufino found Xamarweyne to be larger, older
and populated almost exclusively by Somalis. Shangaani in
1914 was still almost purely Arab, containing the richest
merchants in the city. Cufino noted some Asians mixed in with
the Somalis and Arabs in the two quarters of the city (1916).
The Indians were primarily merchants and money lenders,
controlling much of the finance of the city at the time.

Cufino also makes reference to "arabi somalizzaati," or
Somalized Arabs in relatively large numbers. These people are
essentially Arab, but have mixed with and live with the
Somalis. Cufino also mentions Swahili and Galla elements
within the Somali population (Cufino, 1916, p. 130-31). He
speaks of the construction of Italian housing on the beach
east of Shangaani and an evolving "white" section to the west
of the city. At this time, construction of housing for
government employees and other Italians was apparently much
in demand. Many of the Italian civil servants were living in
dilapidated stone houses rented from Indians. The Italians
were concentrating their building efforts in the direction of
commerce and public agencies (Cufino, 1916, pp. 134-37).

When the Italians first took possession of Mogadishu
it was a small town of about 10,000 people. .At the conclusion

of the Italian period, Mogadishu was a considerable center

32

with a population of nearly 100,000. The structure of the
city changed not only in numbers, but also in composition
under Italian rule. The number of Somalis in the city
increased to the point that they became by far the greatest
majority of the city's population. The number of Asians
remained at just a couple of thousand and they became an
increasingly unimportant minority in the city. The most
dramatic change during the period involved the number of
Italians. From just a handful in 1905, the Italian.population
increased to over 20,000 just prior to World War 11. After
the war their numbers declined (W. Puzo, 1972, p. 123).

By 1924 the official population estimate for Mogadishu
was 20,611. That there was an increase is not surprising.
One fact that would have contributed to a dramatic increase
in Mogadishu's population at this time was the construction
of transportation routes connected to the interior. The
increased employment opportunities in construction and
commercial activities would have accounted for a marked
population increase. Mogadishu's most spectacular growth
period occurred in the years just prior to‘World.War 11. This
was the time of Italian expansion in northeast .Africa,
including development and expansion in Mogadishu. A new plan
was formulated by 1939 (Gli Annali, 1939). The major
proposals of the new town plan included construction and
widening of streets, especially in the new and old Somali

sections, the construction of new public buildings, expansion

33

of Italian residential areas, the movement of the Somali
population from the section east of the port, the construction
of a new Somali locality to the northwest of town, and
expansion of the port facility (Annali, 1939) . The population
increased by over 350 percent between 1931 and 1939 to a total
of approximately 72,000. This was a period of tremendous in-
migration of Somalis from the interior, attracted by real and
assumed opportunities for commerce and employment in the city.

Under the Italians, Mogadishu grew from a small town of
about 10,000 inhabitants to about 100,000. The Italians
instituted urban planning in Mogadishu and their imprint on
the morphology of the city is still very much in evidence.
William Puzo (1972), in his study of Mogadishu states that
most of the present functional areas of Mogadishu were planned
by the Italians. The Italians were the first to formulate and
effect city planning in Mogadishu. Most of the functional
zones in the city today are a result of the Italian spatial
ordering of Mogadishu. The growth and expansion of Mogadishu
in the 19205 and 19305 is shown in Figures 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and

4.4.

34
Figure 4.1

Town Plan of Mogadishu-1929

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Puzo (1972)

35
Figure 4.2

Mogadishu in 1935

 

é

 

 

0
.° - '_ \

 

Source: Puzo

(1972)

 

36
Figure 4.3

Mogadishu in 1936

Via/“QUE" -—-—- "\ ...
Ni 1 ‘

 

 

 

DINO". "II."
” IONIC.” I...“

/¢
4"
c"
- In on“

L=ge£==er

 

 

l

:8
2!
§
25
<
(D
O
S
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|—-
Z
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Source: Puzo (1972)

37
Figure 4.4

Town Plan of Mbgadishu-1939

 

TOWMIFtAWIOFIMOGADflflflO.flNND

 

 

 

 

Source: Puzo (1972)

38

Under the Italians functional zones were established and
settlement controlled. The Italian plans for land use along
the city's coast and central districts have been maintained
to this day. They established administrative and military
facilities along the coast to the west of the city's core.
(Puzo, 1972). One of the most important accomplishments of
the Italians was the construction of the port and related
facilities. Surrounding the old Arab quarters, a commercial
and administrative district was established. This district
is still the commercial heart of the city.

Urban planning was instituted, particularly through the
town plans of 1929 and 1939. The streets of Mogadishu were
organized on the basis of a grid system. Relatively spacious
European residential sections were established and the Somalis
were directed into spacially built localities around the
central city. A central business-cultural district was
established and. a great number* of 'public buildings and
projects were constructed.

The peak of Italian efforts in the city occurred in the
late 1930's. The Italians were in political control in
Somalia and Mogadishu from 1905 to 1941 and again from 1950-
1960, in the first instance as a colonial power and the second
as administrator of the Trust Territory of Somalia (I.M.
Lewis, 1965). During World War 11 and British occupation,
Somali in-migration continued at a slower rate while the

Italian population of the city decreased significantly. This

39
affected a balance between immigration and emigration to and
from Mogadishu and the population remained just over 70,000
until after the end of the war.

The period just prior to World War 11 was one in which
the Italians invested their greatest energies. Ethiopia had
been conquered and the Italian Empire in east Africa had been
essentially formed by 1936 (I.M. Lewis, 1965). Government
expenditures reached their highest levels as did the Italian
population. Special attention was paid to improving
Mogadishu's transport, communication, military and.commercial
functions. As a result, increasing numbers of Somalis were
attracted to the city and government organization of them into
orderly localities was not able to keep pace. The population
of Mogadishu rose from about 30,000 in 1933 to 50,000 in 1935
and 72,000 in 1939, an increase of roughly 250 per cent within
a period of six years (Zanichelli, 1935, p. 234). During the
same period, the Italian population increased from 730 to an
estimated 20,000. A large part of the Italian decrease was
in military personnel.

By 1950, the population of the city had declined
considerably to about 55,000. The Trust Territory of Somalia
was instituted in 1950 and the Italians were reestablished in
Somalia. The renewed economic opportunities tied to the
return of the Italians in the area led to a renewed increase
in migration to Mogadishu and a resultant increase in the

city's population. The estimated population of Mogadishu

40
between 900 A.D. and the 1950's is shown in Figure 5.
Between the years 900 A.D. and. the twentieth century,
Mogadishu evolved from a small coastal settlement to one of
the two largest cities on the east African coast.

The two periods of most rapid growth in Mogadishu's
recent history, in the late 1950's and 1960's were periods
when migration into the city must have been responsible for
about a seven to ten per cent increase in. Mogadishu's
population. In the late 1950's, the economy of the city and
country was being revitalized by the Italians in the last
years of their Trusteesship and the country was anticipating
the independence of 1960 (I.M Lewis, 1955). There was also
a period of severe flooding followed by severe drought during
those years, which would affect migration from rural to urban
areas. An extremely severe drought in the mid-1960's
precipitated another mass exodus from the interior to
Mogadishu and other cities.

MogadiShu is one of the largest cities on the east
African coast. In the 1970's the estimated population was
over a quarter million. After a period of relative stagnation
after World War 11, Mogadishu has been growing at one of the
highest rates on the African continent. This dramatic growth

is shown in Figure 6.

41
Figure 5

Growth of Mbgadishu From 950 A.D.-1958

 

 

 

 

E GROWTH OF MOGADlSHU=950-l958 E
a a

 

 

q-#
Source: Puzo (1972)

42
Figure 6

Growth of Mogadishu from 1840-1980

 

     
   

      
 

 

E GROWTH OF M06ADISHU8I840-1980 E
:::.'UI.AYIOI II “0'5 1
. .
L

E'” - 2
m '6: ’8‘. I I... '2: '4‘. ".0 I 9 I 9

 

 

YV

Source: Puzo (1972)

43

Mogadishu is also the primary urban city in Somalia. An
increasing concentration of economic, administrative and
military functions in.Mogadishu in relation to other towns in
Somalia has produced this situation. Immigrants have had a
considerable impact on the composition of Mogadishu's
population.

Forty per cent of Mogadishu's population in 1966 had been
born outside of Mogadishu. The older localities in Mogadishu
near the center of the city have the lowest proportions of
persons born outside of Mogadishu. Somali immigrants to the
city form about forty per cent of the populations of the
newer, peripheral, localities. Mogadishu is an exception to
the accepted generalization that the majority of African towns
are a melting pot of "tribal" affiliations. Although
different Somali clans migrate to the city, once settled they

have a tendency to blend into a homogeneous urban population.

W

Mogadishu has added to its importance considerably
since Somalia's independence in 1960. The population has
grown remarkably as government and commercial activities have
increasingly been centered there. There are not many economic
foci in Somalia besides Mogadishu and the government has
tended to concentrate its limited investments there. The

capital city is Somalia's dominant city in terms of

44

population, its leading ‘port and. commercial center, the
primary focus of transportation routes from the interior, the
only manufacturing area: the center for national and
international development projects, and proximate to the
country's only significant hinterland. The population is
increasing numerically and proportionately faster than any
other city in Somalia.

The morphology of Mogadishu is unlike that of any other
city in Tropical Africa. In the city center is the old town,
Xamarweyne, consisting of ancient Arab quarters. The old,
original Arab qmarters still stand on Mbgadishu's original
site, and Arab influences in architecture and commercial ac-
tivities are still widespread. Arab-Persian and perhaps
Indian groups accounted for virtually all of Mogadishu's
population, from its inception to the mid thirteenth century
(I.M. Lewis, 1955, p. 47).

One of the basic aspects of the morphology of Mogadishu,
then, is the establishment of a colonial city adjacent to and
surrounding an old indigenous core. Though Mogadishu was well
organized by the Italians, one would be hard pressed to
ascribe to it orderly theoretical sectors, ‘concentric zones,'
particular nuclei, or any notion regarding its total form.
Most of the ancient Arab -built quarters of Xamarweyne and
Shangaani still stand with their multi-storied buildings
crowded upon one another, separated by narrow and winding

pathways. The ancient core areas of Mogadishu fit in many

45
ways the characteristics of the "typical" Islamic -Arab city
propounded by A. Hourani (1974, pp. 9-24). Firstly, both
Xamarweyne and Shangaani were originally walled, and the old
walls are still apparent in some places. Secondly, the
prominently situated garesa served as a citadel for the
defense of the old city. The third characteristic of an
Islamic city does not apply as well in the case of Mogadishu,
probably because the city never reached an appropriate
magnitude. In this case one would expect "a central urban
complex, which would include the great mosques and religious
schools, and the central markets...with special places
assigned for the main groups of craftsmen or traders" (A.
Hourani, 1970, p. 21). Mogadishu possesses all of the above,
particularly a large central market, but the great mosques and
religious schools are smaller and more dispersed than is
implied in the above quotation.

The internal pattern of circulation in Xamarweyne and
Shangaani still resembles that of most ancient Arab cities.
The absence of a general grid organization, the haphazard,
periodic additions to buildings, the winding, narrow pathways
suited to pedestrian and small cart traffic, and the tendency
to vertical additions to buildings within the walls rather
than horizontal expansion of the area outside of the walls,
are very much in evidence in Mogadishu.

The colonial imprint is clearly discernible in Mogadishu.

The Italians were responsible for the establishment of the

46
The Italians were responsible for the establishment of the
functional zones in the city. The Italian planned quarters
in Mogadishu are very distinct visually from the old Arab
quarters or from newer Somali localities. The differences
between the more spacious, relatively appealing and impressive
'colonial city' and the old Arab quarters or the newer Somali
planned sections are readily apparent. Most Somalis in the
interior of the country are nomadic or semi-nomadic and are
thus quite mobile. This coupled with periodically severe
conditions in the interior and the attractions of Mogadishu
often account for great numbers of Somalis moving into the
city today. There are no quarters of different Somali clans
in Mogadishu. Immigrants settle wherever there is space
available. Figure 7 shows the initial site and location of

Mogadishu.

47

Figure 7

Initial Site and Location of Mogadishu

 

.@

 

 

.-
3338}... h

312930.). mo mtm 45.52.

... 0.3.3:...
o

5....
.... 83.83.23.330. .22....
:00... o . ......‘oo... 0.. ....... 3...”..3.“
o.

        
         

.... e. .. (...n...
ava-urw ......I dabwmuuvuwmfiw ..n. ... .
.. Pa... .- ...- . .... u ..
. aw... whys»... m. ....

       

 

    

\\
. . . .. ... 0.1.3..." .«F h...0-1.~.o.w0.‘..r.o..o.§ ..
. .......H. ,. ......r........-o. .40.. o‘.... _. o
.. .. .. ... ’31-.Iuo .6 .... - .....w...... ”H; J
\ ....... _ .. ... ,. m.».£....w_........m. v1.3.1.4... flan... , . V
\ .ao . ...-o . ... . t.- .-
\
\

 

 

...... .... ...... .... 3

«26¢ 53V
.28. 5.26 a..-

-Q
“‘2
a

         

 

 

Alpers (1983)

Source

48

The functions of Mogadishu are representative of those
of a leading city in a typically preindustrial, emerging
nation. Somalia is one of the world's poorer emerging states.
The city's importance as a political center outweighs any
other considerations. .Administrative and.military activities
in Mogadishu account for'most of its economic base. It is the
only area in Somalia where modern economic development, though
limited, is occurring at a substantial pace. Muslim-Somali
traditions are being integrated into rapidly evolving
legislation: the Somali language is being developed into a
written one, and the majority of post-elementary education
occurs. In a nomadic country, formerly divided into two
separate colonies, Mogadishu provides the only significant
forum for the exchange and gradual fusion of the disparate
folkways of the country's population.

The city is Somalia's leading industrial and commercial
center and the most important port. Manufacturing consists
primarily of small-scale manual enterprises. Commercial and
service activities are also very small in scale. Nearly all
of the economic activities of Mogadishu are at the tertiary
level as the city has not yet developed a substantial
secondary sector. Unemployment in Mogadishu is high and labor
force participation is low, particularly among women.
Employment in government services, especially the military,
provides the main economic basis upon which Mogadishu

functions.

49

The city is composed of thirteen districts or gggmgyin.
Each district is headed by a District Commissioner and deputy
officials. The city itself is governed by a mayor. The
physical setting of the districts display similar features
with the exception of Xamarweyne, which comprises an entirely
different physical and cultural environment. The inhabitants
of Xamarweyne, the "reer Xamar," are the oldest coastal
inhabitants of Mogadishu. Most of the ancient Arab-built
quarters of Xamarweyne still stand with their multi-storied
buildings crowded upon one another, separated by narrow and
winding pathways. These mysterious looking buildings are
reputed to be centuries old. The physical structure of these
dwellings are of concrete and usually comprise two or three
stories. The entrances to the buildings are in the narrow
alleyways on the ground floor or street level. A flight of
concrete stairs leads to the main living quarters. A number
of little rooms, ie., living room, and bedrooms form a circle
and surround the central courtyard. The courtyard has two
primary functions: (1) it is a place where kitchen chores are
performed, such as cooking, pounding grain, and washing, and
(2) it serves as a gathering area where friends and relatives
meet to exchange news. The buildings themselves usually have
small openings in every room which function as windows; the
columns across the windows are made out of steel or wood.
Unpaved alleyways form passages between the buildings and

comprise shops, Indian. and. Arab owned. premises, selling

50
imported perfumes, clothing, and household wares. The "reer
Xamar" also run little shops selling desserts or sweets called
galgg. Street sellers crowd the narrow passageways selling
expensive imported silk and chiffon fabric for ladies garments
known as the ggnting or fining.

The Xamarweyne market situated in the city centre is the
main area where daily food produce such as fruits, and
vegetables, and other foods such as eggs, pasta, oil and meat
are sold and purchased daily. Peddlers also line the
entrances to the market, selling their wares which include
fabric, perfumes, kitchen utensils, and gold jewellery. A.
fish market run by a cooperative is situated along the
beachfront entrance to the "reer Xamar" dwellings. A variety
of Somali and Italian-owned restaurants are located along the
Lido beach area. A number of mosques are also found in the
city centre. Xamarweyne's impressive, .age-old concrete
buildings are a significant reminder of the precolonial
existence of Mogadishu. This relic quarter of Mogadishu is
by no means an unimportant part of the city. It is the pulse
of city life housing several thousand inhabitants who have
occupied the buildings over many generations.

The other districts of Mogadishu also unique in their own
way, differ radically in physical type to the "reer Xamar"
dwellings. As a result of the increased rate of urbanization,
almost all residential areas are overcrowded. Poor and upper

income households lie side by side. In predominantly poorer

51

districts, however, a number of clusters of poor homes vividly
sketch the landscape. Mud, thatch, wood and tin form the main
materials out of which poor homes are constructed. The design
of these dwelling units consists of little rooms with an open
courtyard in front. A vast majority of poor income families
raise cattle, sheep, goats, and. chicken as a ‘means of
supplementing their income. Livestock enclosures or pens are
usually constructed in the open yard in front or alongside the
unit. Most homes in the overcrowded districts do not have
access to electricity or water resource facilities. Kerosene
lamps and well water purchased in huge drums are the
substitutes for such shortages. Cooking is done with charcoal
and the main yard area is constantly occupied with household
activities and chores. Upper income households display the
following characteristics: western-styled concrete and brick
structures, electricity and running water, huge iron gates in
front of the house guarded by a watchman, lavish furnishings,
servants quarters, and a hut shaped patio or outside social
gathering and recreation area. These plush homes are in
marked. contrast to the simple: dwelling' units of poorer
families.

Features characteristic of all districts is the presence
of a central market selling food produce and other items,
similar to that of Xamarweyne. Street sellers are also
common, especially teenage boys and girls who sell sweets and

cigarettes. Small mini markets, clothing shops, and

52
pharmacies are located in all areas. All main roads are
tarred, while roads within the residential districts are
primarily unpaved, sandy pathways. Administrative and
. financial activities account for’most of Mogadishu's economic
base. It is fast becoming a major financial centre and is
the only city in Somalia where modern economic development is

occurring at a substantial pace.

Summary

The nineteenth century was a period of decline for the
city of Mogadishu. External factors that help explain this
period are trading enterprises fostered by Indian merchants
and the massive influx of slave labor. These external factors
combined with internal strife in the form of rivalries between
the two moieties of Xamarweyne and Shangaani, only served to
exacerbate these rivalries.

The twentieth century rekindled the importance of
Mogadishu as a primate city through its rapid growth and
expansion. Italian rule stimulated the rapid evolution in the
size and composition of Mogadishu. The colonial imprint is
still clearly discernible in Mogadishu. The Italian planned
quarters are quite distinct from the old Arab quarters or from
newer Somali localities.

Migration to the city from the early 1900's to the

present time has resulted in a rapid increase in the

53

population of Mogadishu. The revitalization of Mogadishu
began with the establishment of Somalia Italiana in 1905. The
selection of Mogadishu as the colonial capital instigated the
rapid expansion of the city's population. Despite the
availability of adequate economic opportunities in the city,
and the increasing rate of unemployment, rural folk are still
attracted to the city for a farrago of reasons. One may
speculate that Mogadishu will continue to hold its own despite
setbacks in economic growth.

The establishment of Mogadishu, its accession as one of
the most important ports on the East African coast, and the
evolution of its population from Arab to Somali were the most
important events during the evolution of the city. With the
arrival of large numbers of Somalis into the city, a basic
aspect of Mogadishu was established which continues to this

day.

54

flotes

1. Owen's description of the respectful manner in which his
ships' officers were subjected to a manner of imprisonment,
but with liberty to ramble about, reflects the coastal custom
of managing visits of strangers through local mediators drawn
from the ranks of the community notables known in Somalia as

abbggn. See Lee Cassanelli, The Shaping of Somali Sggigty,
1982, pp. 156-159.

2. Edward Alpers suggests that such a hypothesis is
reflected in the available evidence from the 18408 into the
early twentieth century. The most critical aspect of economic
activity in the Benaadir was the remarkable growth of
agricultural exports produced by a system of plantation
slavery'. See Edward Alpers 1983, "Mogadishu.in'the Nineteenth
and Twentieth Century. A Regional Perspective," Jogrnal of

_frigan_fii§t2rx vol 24 pp 441- -459-

3. William Puzo states that the fact that Xamarweyne became
a Somali section and Shangaani the Arab quarter is supported
by the translations of the two names. Xamarweyne translates
into ‘great city' in Somali: Shangaani means ‘on the sand' in
Swahili, the language used by Arab merchants. See William
Daniel Puzo, "Mogadishu, Somalia: Geographical Aspects of its
Evolution, Population, Functions and Morphology," 1972, p.
104. Ph.D Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.

4. The larger history of resistance and realignment in the
hinterland of Mogadishu, including its bearing upon coastal
town politics, has been carefully reconstructed by Lee

Cassanelli, The Shapigg of Somali Society, 1982, pp. 207-253.

5. Mention is made by Georges Revoil, however, of the "great
native festival" called 1gb, a communal festival which
emphasized town unity while incorporating elements of ritual
battle. See Georges Revoil, "Voyage chez les Benadirs, les
Somalis, et les Bayouns en 1882-1883," Le Tour gg Mggge, 1885,
p. 55, vol. XLIX.

CHAPTER THREE

ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE HOUSEHOLD AND WOMEN

Motion

This chapter reviews the anthropological approaches to
the study of households and women, and outlines a conceptual
framework for understanding the urban Somali experience.
Issues concerning the household, community and family dominate
the writings of social scientists studying African societies.
The last thirty years has witnessed major shifts of approach
in the study of households (Dan Bauer 1977; Jane Guyer 1981:
Robert McC Netting et. al 1984). The "developmental cycle"
model developed by MeyerFortes (1958) to bring order to the
welter of household forms has aroused serious debate because
of the high degree of flux in households, which cannot be
adequately accounted for by such a model.

Furthermore, terminological constructs such as
"household" and "community" provide an explanation of local
forms of social organization in relation to their position in
the regional, national and international economic and
political structures.‘ In recent years there has been a great
controversy as to whether the household model is applicable
to African society as evident in the studies by Jane Guyer

(1981), and in particular to the analysis of’ women in

55

56
households (Christine Oppong, 1981). In this chapter I will
argue that the household is the primary unit of investigation
for the changing status of women. The household as a unit
makes this possible, for it is the locus of economic resources
and decision-making processes.

With the above in mind, this chapter is divided into the
following'sections. The first part is an analysis of Fortes's
(1958) theory of the "developmental cycle" as well as Dan
Bauer's (1977) use of Fortes's paradigm in his study of Tigray
households. The second concerns critiques levelled at the
household model, focusing especially on Jane Guyer's mode of
analysis and study of households in African society. The
third attempts to explain why a revitalization of the
household as a unit of investigation is taking place in the
19805 with reference to Robert.McC Netting's volume entitled,
flogsghglds (1984). The fourth is an attempt to formulate a
new dimension to these controversies by introducing a model

of continuous fragmentation.

Tg- n-v-_-9ueg a a -- . P.t A a1 _'5 of t - --~-go .

The key concepts used by Meyer Fortes (1958) to explain
changes taking place in the domestic group or family are
conceived of in terms of "time" and "social structure" or
"social system." In formulating his paradigm of the

"developmental cycle" Fortes isolates and conceptualizes the

57
time factor in conjunction with the social system. His
definition of a "social system" is as follows:
A social system by definition has a life. It
is a social system...only so long as its elements
and components are maintained and adequately
replaced: and the replacement process is the
crucial one because the human organism has a
limited life span. Maintenance and replacement are
temporal phenomena. It is the processes by which
they are ensured that concerns us when we study
the time factor in social structure (Meyer Fortes
1958, p. 1).
How then does a social system maintain itself and how does
replacement contribute towards this end? Fortes argues that
this is conceived of in terms of replacement of its two vital
resources, namely, human capital and social capital. The
former consists of the total body of knowledge and skills,
values and beliefs, laws, and morals embodied in the customs
and institutions of a society, and the utilities made
available for supporting the livelihood of its members through
the application of culture to natural resources. The domestic
group must remain in operation over a significant period of
time, long enough to rear offspring so that the society can
maintain. itself. This is what Fortes identifies as a
"cyclical process" (1958, p. 2). Moreover, the group as a
unit is said to retain the same form, but its members and

activities go through. changes during' the cycle, thereby

resulting in the dissolution of the original unit and its

replacement by one or more units of the same kind.

 

58

Fortes. distinguishes three :main stages in 'the
developmental cycle of the domestic group, namely, expansion,
dispersal and replacement. Fortes states that expansion
begins at the outset of the marriage of two people up until
the completion of their family of procreation. The biological
determining factor is said to be the duration of the wife's
fertility’ (1958, p. 5). During the expansion. phase the
offspring are economically dependant on their parents. The
second phase of dispersion is defined as fission, commencing
with the oldest child and continuing until all the children
are married. The third and final phase of replacement is
characterized by the youngest child assuming responsibility
for the household, culminating in the death of the parents and
the replacement in the social structure of the family they
founded, by the family of their children (1958, pp. 5-7).

Fortes makes reference to specific ethnographic examples
to show how these phases operate. Among the Iban studied by
D. Stenning (1958) if the oldest and youngest children of the
me]; are both male, then the formers marriage marks the onset
of the dispersal phase and he will reside uxorilocally. On
the other’hand the marriage of the latter marks the end of the
cycle and his wife will reside virilocally. Fortes
characterizes these as contrary choices as " phase-specific"
expressions of the same set of structural factors. It is
apparent, however, that the most significant process that

Fortes discusses as influencing household structure is that

59

of marriage. The marriage of the oldest child marks the
dissolution and replacement of their domestic group and are
said to be the critical episodes in the developmental cycle.
Hand in hand with marriage goes residential patterns, which
according to Fortes, is the primary index of the boundaries
of the internal structure of domestic groups and are the
crystallization of the developmental process at a given point
in time.

The concept of the "developmental cycle" as propounded
by Meyer Fortes is a viable tool in the analysis of
households. The developmental cycle sees both nuclear and
extended families as part of the same kind of household as it
changes over time. Fortes's formulation of the model has
given us a starting point from which to analyze changes in
household structure. Despite the advantages of the model and
the explanation of household forms with reference to three
specific phases of development, the model fails to adequately
explain the following matters. Firstly, nuclear families may
indeed over a significant period of time, change into extended
families. An explanation of household forms, however, appear
too simplistic if considered. primarily in terms of the
transition from nuclear to extended families, with marriage
as the major factor in this process. What needs to be
accounted for are the dynamic processes involved in household
social structure: these need not. be time-bound such as

migration, divorce, polygyny, and rules of inheritance. This

60

criticism is equally applicable to the replacement phase which
may not only be characterized by death of parents, but rather
death of either parent, and the creation of households headed
not only by the families of the children who remain. Female-
headed households may also be a consequence of migration, when
husbands seekmwork.in the urban centers as the case of Somalia
so clearly demonstrates.

Secondly, it is not clear from Fortes's analysis whether
we are looking at the whole process from the point of view of
the household or domestic group. Thirdly, Fortes states that
his paradigm can be applied equally to all social systems
(1958, p. 8). While we may be able to relate all three phases
to "all social systems," we cannot help but get bogged down
in the debate over cultural universals. For example, the
dispersal phase is not always characterized by the marriage
of the oldest child. Rural-urban migration and conflict among
family members may also result in the dispersal of household
members.

Dan Bauer (1977, 1985) has questioned Fortes's use of
concepts such as "domain" and "field" used to differentiate
social structure and social organization. According to Bauer,
it is not always clear whether a domain is defined from the
actor's point of view or from the outside observer's point of
view. Bauer overcomes this ambiguity in his analysis of the
Tigray household in Ethiopia by using terms such as

"structural field" to refer to the actor's point of view and

61

"organizational field" to refer to the observer's viewpoint
(1977, p. 35). Bauer's paradigm for the variation of
household forms in Tigray household is based on the Fortesean
developmental cycle with some modification. His analysis goes
beyond that of Fortes's by showing that factors not time-bound
affect household organization thereby resulting in diversified
patterns. Among the Tigray, these factors are identified as
death, divorce, gender of offspring, climatic and
environmental factors. Moreover, Bauer is concerned with the
relationship between kinship systems and the domestic cycle
on one hand, and the household as an economic and farm
management unit on the other.

In order to reduce the confusion that may result from the
complexity involved in the multiple pathways that household
processes may follow, Bauer introduces a path analysis (1985,
p. 83). The use of a flow chart in the part analysis
illustrates which processes and options are open to the
household at each stage in its development. Following Fortes,
Bauer equates the expansion phase with marriage, and further
demonstrates that the birth of the first child changes the
composition of the household and the social definition of the
unit. Bauer carries his analysis further by discussing
economic expansion and personnel adjustment as factors
involved in the expansion phase. Personnel adjustment is
regarded as the integral part of the economic expansion

process, with labor utilization as an important factor. Bauer

62
classifies the dispersal phase with the marriage of junior
members and divorce resulting in the creation of two separate
households (1985). Death of one partner and the distribution
of household property are factors in this regard. Moreover,
Bauer's path analysis of the farming household stresses time
and decision-making as significant issues altering household
form. A household is confronted by a series of decisions that
affect its wealth and composition. The order in which these
decisions must be met is partly a function of time. For
example, seeking a new wife comes after divorce, and.is partly
the result of the outcome of previously made decisions. The
path analysis is designed. to account for all forms of
households found in the community and to draw attention to
certain critical phases in the developmental process at which
households may take off or decline. Bauer's analysis is a
significant contribution to the study of household flux for
it demonstrates how resources are passed on from one

generation to the next.

Contradictions and Controversies of the Household Mode;

I now turn to an evaluation of Jane Guyer's critique of
the household model. Guyer's main concern is the use of
models to relate changes in the household to changes in the
larger institutional structures, for example government

policy. She believes that incorporation into state structures

63

provides boundary conditions within which other processes take
place (1981, p. 106). National and international political
structures have transformed and continue to effect the ways
in which differentiation, commoditization, and new forms of
association can take place. The power of the state embodied
in administrative and legal structures, is a factor which
enters into all situations. Guyer states that the most
obvious way in which the state penetrates local systems is
through alteration of authority structures and power
relationships. The state alters political conditions under
which local and kin-based groupings operate, and penetrates
them more directly through the legal system. The state has
intervened in family law with explicit political aims with
unforseen consequences.

Guyer discusses in detail differential access to
resources (1981, p. 109-111) with varying consequences and
refers to studies on Lesotho by Andrew Spiegel (1980) and
Sally Falk-Moore's study of' the Chagga (1975). She also
discusses monetarization of two important products which enter
into domestic relations, ie., food and bridewealth. Studies
by Reyna (1977) demonstrate that elders keep control over the
labor of junior men in food production by controlling
bridewealth transactions, and the ability of the younger
generation. to establish. their' own. domestic groups.

Monetarization has also allowed young men to earn their own

64
bridewealth: their fathers use bridewealth receipts for other
purposes (David Parkin, 1980).

Guyer points out that the household model is inaccurate
for Africa since there is the problem of defining household
membership and maintaining continuous records on people with
high mobility rates (1981). With a household approach one
cannot deal with the following ethnographic observations, for
example a woman's income is kept separate from that of her
husband (Gloria.Marshall 1964, p. 189), and that West African
husbands and wives seldom form a unified unit of production
(Polly Hill, 1975, p. 123). The way in which households are
formed and the activities that members pursue together, are
deeply affected by the institutional context. For example,
Fortes has demonstrated that land use is determined not only
by ecology and technology, but by the nature of the social
units that work the land (1958). Furthermore Guyer believes
that with a methodology based on the household as a major
analytical concept, one cannot examine three critical
features, namely, the relationship between men and women and
the relationships amongst domestic groups in situations where
wealth or control of resources may vary widely (1981).

Various criticisms have been levelled at the household
as a unit of analysis. Jane Guyer (1981) has criticized such
a typology which emphasizes rules and norms while neglecting
variability and behavior. She sees the practical problems of

trying to record household membership when people move about

65

a great deal. Others have pointed out that decisions
concerning fertility and subsistence production are made by
individuals, yet western demographers continue to use the
household as the unit of analysis (Christine Oppong, 1981).
Christine Oppong (1981) and Elina Haavia-Mannila (1981)
demonstrate that researchers also presuppose a male-headed
household, with the woman as housewife occupied with
consumption, reproduction and child care. Prudence Woodford-
Berger states that the household should remain an "unresolved,
multidimensional concept" rather than an analytical concept
that tends to submerge women and their work within un-
differentiated, closed household organizational systems ( 1981,
p. 34). It may be argued, however, that because of
circumstances that mitigate against the household, the
household is the primary locus for social change.
Furthermore, the role assigned to women by virtue of using a
household model certainly does not imply that women are only
confined to reproductive activities. In fact, I would go so
far as to say that the household should be viewed as a unit
that allows women to manipulate their statuses and roles. It
is the first and foremost outlet available to women enabling
them to unveil the yoke of subordination and control by men.

Guyer's approach is rather eclectic. Commentators of
Guyer's paper such as Sara Berry (1982) have defined Guyer's
approach as an exercise in "fence sitting." Her approach is

not clearly Marxist although she uses terminology associated

66

with Marxist writings. Furthermore, although her approach is
not clearly cultural, it nevertheless documents the
persistence of different configurations of kinship ideology
and domestic organization in different ethnic groups, coming
down heavily in favor of comparative social history and social
structure. There is great power in an approach to local
organization through key cultural concepts and through the way
in which people see themselves, an aspect neglected by Guyer.

The concept of the household may be problematic if we try
to designate the household as a collectivity or single unit.
Household mobility and flux may be a challenge to the
household model, nevertheless to exclude such a model on these
grounds is to disregard one of the most important units of
change in society. The household as a unit makes change
possible: it has a locus, resources and labor force and is the

seat of power and control for male members of the society.

v t ' 'o e o e t h ouseh

The use of a household methodology has been greatly
strengthened by theoretical developments in the "new household
economics" (G. Becker 1965) and Chayanovian theory (1966) .
These approaches depend critically on the assumption of the
household as a unit controlling resources and making joint
decisions about their allocation. Consequently, the household

has become a fundamental concept in economic analysis of

67
Africa. Almost all survey data are collected in terms of the
household and terminology such as " the small holder" (Anthony
et al 1979) and the "family firm" (D. Hunt 1979) are common.

15 the household a significant unit in the description,
comparison and analysis of human societies? Social historians
and anthropologists have responded to this in a positive
manner (Robert McC Netting et a1 1984). Robert McC Netting
states:

the household was perhaps the most

flexible and responsive social grouping

the family household is an institution

sensitive to minor, short-term fluctuations in

the socio-economic environment and a prime

means by which individuals adapt to the subtle

shifts in opportunities and constraints that

confront them (1979, p. 40).
William Rathje states "the household is society's most
commonplace and basic socioeconomic unit" (1981, p.6). Peter
Laslett states, " I believe that a convincing case can.be made
out in favor of the household as the fundamental unit in pre-
industrial European society for social, economic, and even
educational and political purposes " (1969, p. 199).

Why the sudden surge of interest in the household?
Robert McC Netting, Richard Wilk and Eric Arnould (1984) , give
two primary reasons for’ this.2 Firstly, the family or
household has evolved from a "primitive," relatively
undifferentiated, extended kin group into small, specialized

nuclear groups familiar in the west. Secondly, the household

is judged as a transitory group that precipitates in each

68

society from the action of culturally specific systems of
kinship, marriage customs and rules of residence (1984, p.
xiv). Netting, Wilk and Arnould then draw a distinction
between the household and the family. Both households and
families are said to be culturally defined: the former are
task oriented residence units and the latter are conceived of
as kinship groupings that need not be localized. Nonrelatives
who live together, as well as servants and lodgers who
cooperate in some common activities are household members,
whereas non-resident kin are usually affiliated principally
with other households.

Is the household then a significant and more viable unit
of analysis? Selecting the household as a common focus for
social scientific research and analysis has both practical and
theoretical justifications. Almost everyone grows up in a
household and continues to live in such a unit: there is
therefore a pervasive recognition of the reality and relevance
of this group. Peter Kunstadter makes the following
statement:

most people in most societies at most times
live in households, membership in which is
usually based on kin relationships of marriage
and descent, which are simultaneously a
combination of dwelling unit, a unit of
economic cooperation and the unit within
which most reproductive and early child-

hood and socialization takes place (1984,
p. 299).

69

The household is thus the fundamental unit of social
organization. The household is the primary arena for the
expression of age and sex roles, kinship, socialization, and
economic cooperation. Decisions emerge from households
through negotiation, disagreement, conflict and bargaining.
Decisions to marry, build a house, take in a relative, hire
a maid, or to migrate, are seldom made or acted on by isolated
individuals, because such decisions necessarily affect
household morphology and activities. Pooling and sharing of
resources, food processing, cooking, eating and sheltering
from the elements tend to take place in the household which
has become a standard unit of analysis for ecological and
economic purposes. Nutrition is characteristically measured
there, the division of labor by age, sex and status can be
directly observed. Governments continue to collect basic
census data at the household level.

A further reason for the study of the household is that
when descent groups break down, as ethnic groups and cities
coalesce, the household neither disintegrates nor completely
transforms itself. The controversy about the changes in
household patterning that appear, such as single-person
households, elderly parents in their married children's
household, warn us of the cultural and emotional values that
surround this form of grouping. Social scientists such as E.
A. Hammel have pointed out that rather than concentrating on

the household with all its unpredictable, "stochastic

70

fluctuation", we could more appropriately observe the
important behaviors and norms of people interacting by virtue
of household comembership (1984) . Household studies have been
slanted towards coresidential criteria. Sharing of a domicile
is one of the several features of the household that depend
on the viewpoint of the investigation. Coresidence is a
slippery standard when applied to guests and transients. It
is also difficult to apply to dwellers under one roof who use
separate hearths and food stores, adjoining rooms around a
compound courtyard or clustered dwellings.a

Though recognizing the practical problems of data
gathering and the theoretical difficulties of applying the
designation household, Netting states that we should continue
to regard the household as a part of our conceptual vocabulary
that can be effectively used. The household is more universal
and more cross-culturally comparable than many more frequently
studied institutions. Netting, Wilk and Arnould ( 1984) in
Hogsgholds focus their papers on the basic issue of how and
why households vary within and between societies or over time
within the same society. The proposal in the Wilk and Netting
paper is a simple one. Households had previously been assumed
to perform certain universal functions or activities, units
that share in some combination, production, coresidence,
consumption or reproductive tasks. Previously, households
were usually described and enumerated on the basis of

structural characteristics, namely, size and kinship

71

composition or generational extension. Some of the confusion
about household variation and change derives from conflating
the two dimensions, ie., not differentiating what households
look like (morphology) from what they do (activity). Wilk and
Netting therefore argue that the morphology/ activity
dichotomy makes sense out of cases where households are
changing or adapting their functions to new economic,
political or ecological circumstances (1984).

Sylvia Yanagisako's study of Japanese society shows that
while a household can be defined by the activities it performs
or by its shape and size, it can also be defined as a symbolic
entity, a cognitive model in the minds of the members of the
. society (1984, p. 44). Anthony Carter convincingly
demonstrates that rules and strategies of household systems
can be separated analytically and sometimes in practice, from
rules and strategies of kinship systems (1984) . Carter
studied household histories in India, and examines the
interplay between household rules and strategies in the
individual decisions that lead to particular household forms.
Household relationships are ordered by principles of
ownership, gender and seniority rather than by specific rules
of kinship. Carter also proposes that the link between
economic activities of the household and their morphological
structure is to be found in the household system. Household
systems are culturally defined and set limits on the possible

structural solutions to instrumental problems. It is clear

72

that people's concepts of the household have important and
vital effects on their behavior, for example Kunstadter's
study (1984) of inter-ethnic groups in Thailand, demonstrates
that the household can serve as potent symbols of ethnic
identity and historical continuity.

In concluding this section I reiterate the statement that
the household is the most important unit of study in
attempting to explain the changes taking place in society and

especially in the domain of women.

1 4'!‘ 0 on 41-0 .0 ‘1 a 70;: Woue =1! 10 ‘!0 d8

Despite the criticisms levelled at the use of "household"
as a typological scheme, I believe that it is the basic unit
in society which allows us to examine and evaluate the
underlying dynamics of the society as a*whole. In formulating
an alternative approach that can account for wide variations
in household structure and composition, I have found the ideas
set forth by Dan Bauer (1977, 1985) and those presented by
social scientists in Hogsehoids (1984) most useful. Bauer's
study of the'Tigray household helps dispel the notion that the
transition from nuclear to extended famiLy is a relatively
simple one with marriage as the crucial, all embracing factor
(1977). Jane Guyer's convincing arguments in favor of social
history, social structure, and decision-making, have further

inspired the formulation of an alternate model that. can

73
adequately try to explain why changes in household form affect
the status of women. The rekindling of the concept of the
household by Netting, Wilk and Arnould (1984) , as a major unit
of analysis by which we can explore the dynamics of household
morphology and activity leads us to provide answers to the
questions of how and why households change over time.

I will argue that when the household undergoes change,
it is the position of women that is most affected. In order
to understand why the household should be reintroduced as the
main unit of analysis for the changing status of women,
something needs to be said about the literature available on
women. There is a consensus among social scientists that
women are condemned to lives of servitude. In the 19605
Denise Paulme's book, nggn of Irgpigai Africg (1963)
presented a collection of essays by female anthropologists,
setting the stage for a new phase in the study of African
women. In the 19705 Ester Boserup in her book.fl9mgn§_ggi§_in
Egonomic nggiopmggg (1970) was the first statement of the
negative effect of colonialism on African women, showing that
women experienced a substantial loss in their political and
economic statusfi‘ Also in the 19705, Nancy J Hafkin and Edna
Bay's nggn_in_gjzig§ (1976) attempted to show African women
from a changed viewpoint, not as objects but as actors
constructively seeking to alter their environments and.become
part of’ history: The authors analyze ‘women's economic

independence and the impact of women's associations as some

74
of the spheres in which women have control over decision-
making. At the same time they realize that women cannot be
totally in control of all the social and economic forces which
affect their lives. Changes in the sphere of male activities
must necessarily affect the other and vice versa, even in

societies where there is a rigid division of labor.

A more recent volume. Wings (Claire
Robertson and Iris Berger, 1986), is an attempt at

reconceptualizing and expanding the debate on women and class.
A number of concepts central to this work are the concern with
the impact of capitalism and its effect on class formation,
ideas oflclass struggle and.class consciousness as it pertains
to women, and national and international economic structures
as the key to women's oppression.a The above studies show the
African woman's relatively greater economic potential and
independence in a nonindustrialized world. Women's
contributions to the economic well-being of the family and
community are recognized and respected. Moreover, economic
and political change, even when instituted to improve women's
position, has detrimental effects on women's economic
potential. Change may affect men and women differentially.
I have formulated a model of continuous fragmentation
that emphasizes the household rather than the international
economy as prime locus in the study of women. The model will
elucidate the following factors. Firstly, the mechanisms of

control by men over women will be explored and made clear by

75

using such a model. The model of continuous fragmentation
will enable us to explore what the factors are in decision-
making, who has control over decision-making, and the cultural
and economic factors that determine decision-making.
Secondly, activities such as marriage, child-bearing, and
family structure will be explained as both cultural and
economic choices. The household will be identified as a
monolithic decision-making unit and an arena for overlapping
social relationships. The household may change with changes
in social and economic conditions, and also involve conflict
and.cooperation amongst its'members. Changes in the structure
of economic opportunities may lead to shifts in patterns of
authority and autonomy, and mmtual expectations within the
household. Thirdly, changes in opportunities often affect
members of the household differently, altering the balance of
power within households and influencing the way household
members allocate resources jointly or separately. Continuous
fragmentation alters the household radically and affects the
household in complex ways, , for it involves changing patterns
of cooperation, conflict and domination among individuals and
households. II will evaluate the male sphere of decision-
making (culturally-motivated) versus the female sphere of
making decisions (economically determined), in order to
evaluate how women have autonomy and control over their lives.

The model commences with the position of the "original

household," meaning a unit consisting of a husband, wife and

76

children. Fragmentation is defined as including factors other
than marriage of the children of the "original household."
This relates specifically to the stochastic flux in household
form stemming from decision-making processes in the sphere
of divorce, polygyny and migration. In the case of Somali
urban households these decisions may be said to be both
culturally and economically determined, thus altering the
structure and composition of households in significant ways.
Factors such as the death of either spouse and the status and
position of remaining children in the household further affect
household structure.

This alternate model of the household will focus
specifically on how the changes in the household, resulting
from certain decision-making processes, effect the economic,
social and legal status of women in Somali society. The
issues concerning bridewealth arrangements, the division of
labor, the allocation of responsibility and decision-making,
and rules cf inheritance will be explored in conjunction with

the model outlined above.

Summary

The "developmental cycle" model formulated by Fortes is
useful in explaining some of the factors associated with the
transition from nuclear to extended family households.

Nevertheless, it is inadequate since there are numerous

77

factors that cause households to change at various times
during their development. While the household model has been
criticized on various grounds, it is still an appropriate and
viable model if one defines the term household within the
context of the society under study. Coresidence, pooling of
income and resources, and eating and kinship units are some
of the ways in which the household may be conceptualized.

I have formulated a model of continuous fragmentation in
order to explain the dynamic processes occurring within
households. The model emphasizes the stochastic breaking up
and dissolution of the "original household" by focusing on
decision-making patterns as an essential component. The
cultural and economic spheres are identified with the male and

female domains respectively.

78
H2§§§

1. The increasing use of such terminology in a global sense
is indicative of the work of Claude Meillasoux in his study
of Guoro society. See Claude Meillasoux (1968) uxhghigghign

! 1! § .2! Ou_u-! ' V'_-! '5 i_°C-. ’! , Pan-.1. 0
Seattle, University of Washington Press.

2. The Wenner-Gren Foundation symposium, "Households:
Changing Form and Function," gave rise to this volume and
rekindled the interest in household activity and form.

3. A prime example of the limitations of the household as
a means of classifying and analyzing domestic groups, concerns
the absence of coresidence in Ghanaian Akan society. The
concept of a "matricentral cell" is contrasted to the dwelling
units of men. Food production, household chores, and
transfers of cash are carried out in a number of households
in a single day. See Prudence Woodford Berger (1981).

4. It is important to acknowledge, however, that women did
not remain passive to the radical changes inflicted upon them
by the colonial overlords. The constructive efforts made by
women to overthrow the yoke of colonialism is well documented.

See A. E. Afigbo (1972), Wa ° t
S9nth:Easfern_N1ssria1_1§21:12221 London. Oxford University

Press: Simi Afonja (1983), "Women, Power and Authority in
Traditional Yoruba Society," in L. Dube, Eleanor Leacock and
Shirley Ardener (eds.) Women ' Soc'e o .
London, Oxford University Press: Judith Van Ellen (1976),
"‘Aba Riots' or ‘Women's War'? Ideology, Stratification and
the Invisibility of Women," in Nancy Hafkin and Edna Bay
(eds. ) Women in Afrigg. Stanford, stanford University Press:

and Christine Oppong (1981) Afr1san_E2msn1_Their_§trussls_fer
Esongmis_1ndensndense London. Zed Press.

5. Dorothy Vallenga and Simi Afonja emphasize household
structure as a determinant of differing access to resources,
and the global economy and the household as prime loci of
women's oppression in their studies of Ghana and Nigeria
respectively. See Dorothy Vallenga ( 1977) , "Attempts to
Change the Marriage Laws of Ghana and the Ivory Coast," in P.
Foster and A Zolberg (eds.) ghana and hhe Ivohy £955;-
Chicago, Chicago University Press; Simi Afonja (1981a),
"Agricultural Colonization in Twentieth Century Western

Nigeria," lguzhai of Tnopicai Ggoggaphy vol. 33, pp. 1-8.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE DYNAMIC PROCESSES IN HOUSEHOLD
SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN MOGADISHU

Won

The previous chapters focused on the growth and expansion
of Mogadishu and showed that the importance of the city has
increased dramatically over the years. In Chapter three I
introduced a model of continuous fragmentation that would
provide a more adequate explanation for the changing social
structure of households and women. It concluded that the
changing status of women could be best understood by using
the household as the main unit of investigation. In order to
understand the operation of the dynamic process of change,
this chapter begins by exploring the structure and composition
of the household in Mogadishu and the role played by family
members.

The main issues discussed in this chapter are as follows.
Firstly, the household has to defined within the context of
Somali society. An understanding of what constitutes a
household in Mogadishu is of utmost importance in order to
comprehend the changes that occur during its evolution and
expansion. Household type and conditions are discussed in
order to illustrate the wide variations emanating out of

economic conditions. Secondly, the composition of the

79

80
household is analyzed.in relation to: (a) thelcultural factors
accounting for the priority of male-headed versus female-
headed households, and (b) the income generating activities
and the significance of support networks that provide house-
holds with options during times of crises. Thirdly, the model
of continuous fragmentation formulated in chapter three is
demonstrated with reference to urban Somali households. In
this chapter I will focus specifically on the choices and
decisions that emanate from the male domain (cultural system)

versus that of the female domain (economic system).

0 l t 'n Mo a 'sh

Upon first interviewing heads of households in
Mogadishu, one senses that the household is in constant flux,
and that the definition of the‘word "household" has to be made
clear within the context of the people under study. The
predominance of extended families and multiple family
households necessitate a more precise demarcation of the
household. Furthermore decisions about marriage, divorce and
labor migration must be considered for their effects on the
household and its members. Moreover, it is common in urban
Somali households for a dwelling unit or compound to include
more than one family, thus further adding fuel to the problem
as to the conceptualization of the household.

Eileen Messer has listed four conceptual units of

81

domestic groupings in defining households, namely, eating
units, food budget units, child-rearing units and social
networks (1983, p. 10). Messer calls these units between the
individual and the community, "household units," thus not
restricting the analysis to actual units of coresidence. More
often sharing of resources takes place among networks of
people related by blood or marriage who share resources but
not residence. In the case of households in Mogadishu, eating
units and social networks are the main indicators in defining
households. The term household in this study thus refers not
only to family members and other kin resident in a dwelling
unit, but also includes those immediate family members who
have moved away from the "original household" and live el-
sewhere. I have defined the household in Mogadishu as
comprising the following: (1) eating units, (2) pooling of
income by immediate family members including those living
outside of the household, (3) coresidence and (4) eating
units.

I will now turn to a discussion of physical house-types
in Mogadishu. A description of physical structures show
clearly the Arab and Italian influence, as well as the
economic status of Somali families. 'There are at least seven
different types and structures of houses in Mogadishu, listed
as follows:

(a) (nghorfigggx;is a house built of coral stone and or cement

block walls and either metal or concrete roofing. Variations

82

of this type are:

- W or two storey houses found in the
wealthier _g§gmggyin of Hodan, Wadajir and Cabdulcasiis.

- 'villa or one storey house with at least three rooms,
a tiled floor and verandah, a garden and garage space.

- hhs villa or a "half" villa with similar
features but with a small compound.

- ordinary 53; or stone house with a door or small
gate opening onto the street directly from rooms or from a
small courtyard with bedrooms and a pit latrine.
(b) Mg or house whose walls are built with wooden
planks, often second—hand. In the older and more central
parts of Mogadishu they are also found with masonry bases up
to a metre high. ‘These structures are sometimes transformed
in the 551 type, when people have legal rights to the land
and are not renting.
(c) ggxiish or house whose walls are built of sticks covered
with mud, mixed with cow dung or cement, and with a roof of
corrugated iron, consisting of not more than three rooms.
Cooking is often <done in. the attached courtyard. These
dwellings do not have cement floors. More often the gghshggh
(plural of caziish) are located in compounds with two other
Eggshghh in a U shape. Carshaan are the most common form of
second-class housing in Mogadishu.
(d) j i ihgad is a house of two rooms built of iron. Some

jiinggg are built from the metal of flattened two litre drums

83
called jhhghgyihi Their main disadvantage is that they trap
the heat and humidity. Their advantage is that they are
cheaper to build than ggzahggn.
(e) jaggh, is a hut of one room, built with sticks as the main
frame and covered with sacks, plastic, tarpaulin, tin and
other material that might be available. These are most
commonly found in the phhggihg areas of Yaaqshiid and Wadaj ir.
(f) w is the traditional one room portable dwelling
used by Somali nomads. These are rarely found in the
districts of Mogadishu.
(g) fighgh or shelter built of sticks, sometimes in associa-
tion with acacia trees and mainly used for koranic school or
as tea shops.
An indication of the distribution of house types in the

districts surveyed is listed in Table 1.

Table 1

Qishzihhtion of flohse Types

Wadajir 38% 15% 5% 42%
Hodan 70% 0% 0% 30%
Xamarweyne 100% 0% 0% 0%

Yaaqshiid 10% 65% 5% 20%
Wardhiigleey 23% 40% 4% 33%

Xamarweyne is unique for all buildings housing families are

made out of coral stone and cement. These massive stone

84

structures, often three storeys high dot the landscape along
the Mogadishu coastline. These mysterious looking buildings
are centuries old, having first housed the earliest coastal
inhabitants of Mogadishu. At the death of the head of the
original household, the son remaining usually replaced the
father, thus these concrete dwellings have been passed on from
generation to generation.

Travelling along the tarmac roads sang dominate the
landscape and seem to be in the majority. The situation is
not the same when walking through sandy unpaved backstreets,
where the other types are more common. Similarly, in the
outlying ggghggyih the largest number of jihgggg,
hgzgghg, and ggziish predominate and are far more numerous.
The average for the city as a whole from the sample of one
hundred households surveyed is 52% for the occurence of
baraahg, gagiihh, and jiingad.house types and 48% for §§I type
housing with the majority falling in the category of ordinary
villa and ordinary gag.

The ghriish was once the most prominant house type in
Mogadishu and in the 19505 and 19605 housed more of the
population than any other house type. Once the migrant to
Mogadishu decides to settle permanently, he builds the gaziish
in.place of the ghhi, The number of households and.population
of any dwelling unit increases as a Somali homesite moves
through the housing sequence. Areas of stone house

construction represent some of the highest and lowest

85
population densities in Mogadishu. The old quarters of gggg
mm house types in Xamarweyne have some of the cities highest
population densities. Housing conditions reflect very clearly
the economic status of the households, and are perhaps the
most obvious feature in trying to distinguish poor from upper
income families.‘ A discussion of the progression in the
housing sequence is a vital background to an understanding of

how and why changes take place in households.

0 s ' t tu n o e wo

The average age of heads of households in Mogadishu is
forty two years. Ninety two percent of households are male-
headed, while eight per cent are female-headed. The
overwhelming majority of male-headed households may be
attributed to the following factors: firstly, Somali society
is patriarchal, and secondly Somali society also further
circumscribes to the Islamic code. Given these factors we
may then try to account for the circumstances that sanction
the role of women as heads of households. In Somali society
women derived their position as heads of households only due
to specific circumstances, namely when the husband was
deceased and no elder sons remain in the household to take
over the role of head of the household.

In situations were men were working abroad, men were

still considered to be the head of the household. In her

86

husband's absence one may still consider the wife to be the
head of the household, for she runs the home on a day to day
basis and makes decisions concerning the household. These
decisions concern the daily purchase of food, medical care
for the children, house repairs and the expenditure involved
during times of religious celebration and festivities. The
husband's role is more of a financial nature forwarding the
wife money to run the household. Nevertheless, on the basis
of Somali norms the husband working abroad is the head of the
household despite his absence from the home. The type of
household form generated by the above conditions is shown in
Figure 8.1 and 8.2

In male-headed households the most represented occupation
was that of businessman (ghhgggghg) followed by those who had
no vocational status and were unemployed. The category of
businessman includes the following persons: those owning a
shop or departmental store, those involved in exporting
livestock, and those engaged in commercial activities but do
not own their' own. business premise, and. whose economic
activities centre1around buying and selling various items such
as garments, shoes, textiles and imported food products.

Civil servants (shagaaie dawio) comprise the next most
represented occupation followed by military personnel and

store clerks.

87
Figure 8.1

Household Form 1 Male Headed Household

descent link
affinal link

sibling link
death or divorce

household boundary

 

”BUY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 8.2

Household Form 2 Female-Headed Household

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

88

Minority represented occupations were the following:
mechanic, sailor, watchman (wagdiyo), nurse, student (ggggy),
news reporter, teacher, accountant, pharmacist and peddlar.
Shifts from previous to present occupation show a trend
towards business-oriented economic activities: this may be
attributed to the fact that government salaries are very low
and professional occupations such as teacher and doctor also
fall into the category of lowest paid jobs. The importance
assigned to the above occupations is listed in Table 2.
Furthermore, those involved in business-oriented tasks had a
flexible working hour and opportunity to earn more money than
civil servants. ‘Wage earnings were spent on running the home,
ie., purchasing clothing, food, paying rent, medical expenses
and transportation. Upper income families, however, indicated
that money earned was not only put to household use, but was
also invested and used to educate children abroad in the USA,

Europe and Saudi Arabia.

Table 2

Ogcgpggiohai Speciaiization of Head of the Household

0 cu 'o Eercenh

Male-Headeg HH Businessman 34%
Unemployed 11%
Civil Servant 10%
Store Clerk 6%
Military Personnel 5%
Mechanic 4%
Work Abroad 4%
Peddlar 4%
Shauffer 3%

Party Representatives 2%

89

Table 2 (cont'd)

Company Manager 2%
Construction Worker 2%
Engineer 2%
News Reporter 1%
Teacher 1%
Nurse 1%
W Housewife 3’6
Makes Mats and Baskets 2%
Midwife 1%
Raises cattle/sells milk 1%
Petty Trade/ sells fruit 1%

Salaries in Somalia, especially for civil servants, including
high ranking government officials are extremely low, ranging
from six hundred to four thousand Somali shillings per month.
The majority of teachers are paid a little more than six
hundred Somali shillings per month, less than a domestic
servant (5952952) would receive in food and board alone.
Doctors are paid no more than two thousand Somali shillings
per month, far less than construction laborers.

The discrepancy between actual income earned from holding
a regular job, and daily household expenditure is a common
phenomenon in Mogadishu. Renting a modest room or home costs
at least seven hundred to two thousand Somali shillings per
month. Daily expenditure on basic foods costs at least three
hundred Somali shillings per day. Indeed, other income
generating activities therefore form a significant part of
one's total income. Virtually all breadwinners are forced to

engage in other income generating activities in order to

90
supplement their actual income to eke out a living; jMore time
is spent out of the work place with household heads engaging
in a range of activities to make ends meet. Some of the jobs
held outside of the work place are performing the duties of
a watchman, renting rooms and buying and selling goods. Table
3.1 gives some indication of income earned in Somali
households in Mogadishu, while Table 3.2 shows the

distribution of households whose income includes rent.

 

Table 3.1
o s 0 d5 ' M ' u

No income 11%
600-1000 20%
1100-3000 32%
3100-10000 5%
11000-15000 12%
16000-20000 3%
21000-30000 1%
31000-50000 3%
51000-100000 2%

Table 3.2

a ' s e ' o ses o oo

gistgigt Ogh Home Rent Bentzpm*
Wadajir 70% 30% 700-1000
Hodan 95% 5% 25000
Xamarweyne 100% 0% 0%
Yaaqshiid 40% 60% 250-1500
Wardhiigleey 68% 32% 550-2300

*in Somali shillings

91

Income distribution shows that the majority of Somalis earn
between eleven hundred to three thousand Somali shillings per
month. Moreover, there is a tendency for poorer families to
rent a dwelling unit, for they cannot afford the exorbitant
costs involved in building one's own house. Xamarweyne is
unique in the sense that the old buildings have been occupied
by the same family over many generations.

In order to understand how a family on a meager income
can eke out a daily subsistence, we need to explore the
mechanisms open to individuals. Two main channels perform
vital functions in Somali society. The first involves the
particular technical and other skills that a person may have,
and his/her exploitation of these skills to their utmost
advantage. The second concerns the support network provided
by extended kin members.

In relation to the first, at least three factors explain
why government workers, as a group are not as impoverished as
might be expected. Firstly, there are some civil servants who
can sell their work skills on the outside labor market away
from the normal work place. Civil servants in this category
include doctors, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, carpenters
and teachers who run private schools. Other civil servants
may hold a second job, unrelated to their government position.
Secondly, some civil servants are supported by immediate
family' members and other relatives, who live either in

Mogadishu or who are working abroad, especially in Saudi

92
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The third form of additional support is peculiar to those
who hold key positions in the bureaucracy. People in this
category are usually without specialized technical skills
which can be used or sold on the open market. Key positions
are those where essential documentation is issued or
processed, where access to senior staff is controlled, where
staff appointments and transfers are made, and where access
to physical resources is restricted. Benefits can come to
people in these positions in a variety of forms, one of which
is termed.ghagghg (literally, "things that fall"). These are
fringe benefits that come with holding an important position.
thgggg can be in the form of access to the use of a vehicle
or telephone or other vital resources. Another form of
benefit that can be received is hawi fududeyh (literally,"
make work easier"): these are informal payments received for
services given, as a part of’a person's normal duties as a fee
for services rendered. These can be legal services such as
stamping and completing a required form in accordance with
regular procedures.

A less tangible but equally important benefit is the
accumulation of favors owed. People in important positions
can negotiate access or assistance in other forms, for others
who are in debt to them for similar favors to be done in the
future. Use of these favors can result in a large stock of

influence being accumulated as well as significant material

93

and status benefits. W or "giving a shoulder," is one
expression used in connection with this form of benefit
payment. Other income generating activities form the most
important means of obtaining income and running the household.

I shall now discuss the options open to female and male-
headed households during times of need with reference to "the
economy of affection," a term coined by Goren Hyden and used
by him in a broader African context (G. Hyden, 1983, p. 8).
A question that needs to be raised is: how do females as heads
of households generate income and regulate the daily
activities of the household? Only a minority are housewives
and do not engage in any income generating activities nor do
they hold any regular jobs. The majority of women engage in
tasks such as making mats, raising cattle, petty trade and
midwifery in order to support their families. Table 4 shows

the distribution of the occupations of women as heads of

households:
Table 4
o W e

Mien we ce
Female-headed households 8%
Housewives 37%
Women working 63%
Women living alone 25%
Households including only children 75%
HH with married children and spouses 37%
HH with extended kin members 25%
HH with non-productive members 62%
HH with productive members 38%

HH receiving support-hhhihg 100%

94
Support networks and assistance from extended family members
thus constitute a vital source of income for female-headed
households.

It is well known that throughout much of Somalia many
households belong to broad kinship networks. Through these
networks individual households can call upon money, goods,
information and influence in times of crises or daily need.
At other times members of those networks can make demands on
individual households for the same kind of support. In
Mogadishu, these networks have expanded to include neighbors
and friends made at the work place. The term used by Somalis
to describe this exchange system is called ghgzggh, which may
be translated as help given to an individual in the form of
cash or kind and not necessarily during periods of urgent
need. These support networks have at least two functions.
Firstly, they function as an integral part of the market
economy mobilizing money and information to be used for both
consumption and investment. Secondly, they also function as
a welfare system supporting those who are unable to survive
solely by their participation in the market economy.

In order to understand fully how the support system
operates in households in Mogadishu, two factors need to be
taken into consideration. The first involves the economic
tasks performed by household members which includes those
holding regular jobs, as well as those involved in other

income generating activities. The second concerns immediate

95
family members living away from the original household and
the support system that exists between the two. Tables 5.1

and 5.2 give some indication of these trends.

Table 5.1
Ezgghghiyg and Ngh-Ezgghghivg Mghhgzs

21511215; 119512an Hushsndfllife Children
Wadajir 95% 11% 22%
Hodan 97% 10% 50%
Xamar Weyne 90% 0% 10%
Yaaqshiid 84% 5% 25%
Wardhiigleey 80% 9% 20%

Table 5.2

W

DifiLIiQE HHLthl§I§n_QQL EH1_AiQ Aifl_flfli
Wadajir 30% 5% 50%
Hodan 35% 51% 44%
Xamar Weyne 35% 0% 42%
Yaaqshiid 10% 50% 0%
Wardhiigleey 30% 17% 65%

The affluent or upper income households in Wadajir and Hodan
show a trend towards more women being employed not only in
regular government jobs, but also engaged in economic tasks,
such as petty trade, and contributing to the income of the
household. Moreover, the likelihood of children with an

education being employed in the government sector as well as

96
in the teaching profession is the highest in the district of
Hodan.

The support system that exists between the original
household and immediate kin living away from the household
introduces another dimension to kin relationships. Children
of low income families who are living with extended kin in
the rural area receive financial and other support from their
parents living in Mogadishu. Other instances that warrant
the support of children relates to upper income families who
finance their children's education at institutions overseas.
Moreover, only those offspring who have married and have
changed residence, provide support to their family members in
the original household. There are many circumstances in which
assistance is given freely through people's support networks,
often without request. These are: ( 1) when a couple get
married, (2) when a member of the household dies, (3) when
medical treatment is needed, (4) when a person is about to
travel overseas or to other regions, (5) when a family wants
to educate their children in the city, and (6) when a family
does not have sufficient for its basic needs such as rent or
food, because of lack of employment or insufficient income.

Support networks form a very significant part of
household social structure in Mogadishu. In the course of
the study of Mogadishu, I inquired about the giving and
receiving’ of' both. hgaimo (support) and degyhah (loans).

K_a§img was distinguished from deeman because it is given

97
without expectation of repayment whereas geeyhah are expected
to be repaid. thimg is usually sought first whereas deeyhan
is the next alternative if gaging is not available. When the
sources of hggimg received by households in each district is

shown in Table 6.

Table 6

WWW

Wine £14111: Hodan 255M _L_Wa d-
Other HH Members 35% 50% 25% 48% 40%
Kin in Mogadishu 23% 25% 15% 21% 31%
Kin in Somalia 31% 26% 2% 13% 17%
Kin Abroad 7% 31% 5% 11% 9%
Friends 4% 6% 2% 2% 3%
Neighbors 3% 3% 3% 1% 2%

In Mogadishu the borrowing and lending of money occurs as part
of both the market economy and part of the informal "welfare
systems" that assist those unable to eke out a subsistence by
engaging in the market economy. Its welfare function is
possible because throughout most of Somalia interest is not
charged on loans: this is because of the Islamic prohibition
against the charging of interest (:ihg).

In Mogadishu women also come together to form rotating
credit groups. In Mogadishu such a group is commonly called
m, shgiohgo, or gmhto depending on what part of the
country the person is from. Typically a group of women

arrange for each one of them to contribute a sum of money of

98

about one hundred Somali shillings every week to a common
fund. Each week one of the members has the right to take the
amount given in. Each other member in turn has the right of
withdrawal in subsequent weeks. The rotating credit system
forms a means of credit extension for those who wish an early
withdrawal before making all contributions. This system also
serves as a savings mechanism for those who choose to be last
in line to receive their payment.

Public attitude towards informal organizations such as
the rotating credit system is ambivalent. Some men and women
feel that this system is xagaam or forbidden by Islam, because
they encourage women to use money their spouses have given
them for food purchase and save it for other purposes. Some
feel that it reduces men's control over family finances and
therefore it should not be allowed. Still others feel that
they are entirely legitimate, especially if the women has
earned the money herself. Despite such biases, however,
rotating credit groups do exist and are made up almost solely
of women who have access to some means of making money. The
advantage of rotating credit group's are to savetmoneyy there
is no restriction as to what one can do with the money, and
money is available in the case of emergency situations.
Furthermore, they are not based on kinship networks but extend
across kinship ties to include non-kin. members. ‘Women
participating in the rotating credit groups used the money

for the following purposes: purchase of clothing and gold

99
jewellery, starting up a business, household needs, house
repairs or construction, provide a loan to a family member or
friend, and ceremonial festivities.

Religion further sanctions the support network enabling
families to survive despite constraints. The set of moral
values associated with Islam, especially those concerned with
one's social responsibilities to family and extended kin, as
well as the poor and needy play a vital role in Somali
society. Within Islam there is a strong tradition of helping
the poor and needy. There are two designated forms in which
this should be done. One is the annual religious tax known
in Somalia as sehg (in Arabic, zhhgh). The payment of sghg
is one of the five pillars of Islam. The other is sggggg or
the voluntary giving of alms to those in need. In some
regions of Somalia, the 5339 is collected by a designated
person: this, however, is not the case in Mogadishu. Neither
does the government collect the (sghg, nor is there any
authorized organization to do so. The government does,
however, encourage people, through the media, to give sehg at
the time of Eid-ul-Fitr. People give sghg in the form of food
to poor and needy neighbors in particular.

In the Quran, there are a number of statements about who

constitute the "deserving poor," to whom 531592 should be
given. They are as follows: the poor, masahiih, ie. , the poor

who have some means of support of their own but which is

inadequate, and £19.11: who have nothing and are totally

100

dependent on the charity of others. Included in this group
are the aged and disabled who cannot work. Children who are
orphaned are the next category, followed by divorced women,
those in debt, those travelling on long journeys without
sufficient sustenance, converts to Islam, slaves, and those
in charge of collecting the sghg. Within Islam in Somalia it
appears that most of the assistance given to the poor and
needy is done through the individual in his own capacity.
Two other significant channels are the mosques and religious
communities, especially those located at places like Biyoole,
the burial place of Sheikh Aweyis. .At the Friday congregation
in the mosques, collections of small sums of money are made
and given to the poor. In addition to this mechanism people
facing special hardship can appeal for assistance through the
Eisenh-

The "economy of affection " thus plays a vital role in
Somali society. In the absence of such a support network, it
is unlikely that the majority of the urban poor would eke out
a subsistence, and migration to the city would not be at such
a high rate. The very strengths of the support system may,
however, be one of the major causes in limiting the
establishment of better health and educational facilities.
In the words of Goren Hyden:

It must be accepted that the economy of
affection imposes social obligations on
individuals that limit their interest and
capacity to support public concerns outside

their community...The economy of affection
tends to swamp the public realm, limiting

101

the scope for decisions aimed at defending

the foundation on which its existence rested

(1983, p. 17).
The majority of Somali families in Mogadishu are having a
difficult time making ends meet, and the "economy of
affection" may thus function to their advantage in the short
term only.

The economic status of a household invariably is a
deciding factor as to who receives an education or not. The
number of people in households in Mogadishu who have attended
formal school varies according to the social and economic
standing of the households represented in the five districts
under study. In poor income households the priority placed
on formal education is extremely low, since children provide
a valuable reserve for the household. A number of youngsters
are involved in petty trade, such as selling cigarettes and
peddling other items. A minority of household members claimed
to have had some form of schooling and attended elementary,
intermediate or secondary school. Furthermore, very few had
also attended Quranic school. The most common reasons cited
for children not being able to attend school were: (a)
children dropped out of school because of household chores
that needed attention, (b) children could not be sent to
school at all since their labor was needed in the home and
(c) children had to contribute to the household income by

engaging in trading activities.

102

In poor to middle income households a similar trend is
apparent, though there is a greater emphasis placed on formal
education. The percentage of those who have attended
intermediate and secondary school is higher than that for
Yaaqshiid; more people have also attended Quranic school. In
the affluent, upper income households in Hodan, there is a
greater number of secondary school and university graduates.
The number of those who have had religious instruction is
considerably higher than poor and middle income households.

An entirely different pattern emerges from the study of
the district of Xamarweyne. The majority of family members
had no formal schooling (elementary, intermediate, secondary
or university) or Quran school. Cultural and more importantly
religious factors account for this trend. The "reer Xamar"
or coastal residents of Mogadishu adhere stringently to Islam
and Islamic practices. Young boys are encouraged at an early
age to get involved in business-oriented activities. The
"reer Xamar" are therefore primarily businessmen and traders
by occupation. Young girls and women still go veiled and are
discouraged from gaining an education. Access to education
thus varies according to economic and cultural factors.

The above discussion has focused on household conditions,
and support networks in households in Mogadishu, in order to
illustrate the economic constraints that most families are
confronted with. The underlying dynamic processes that enable

households to maintain a certain degree of autonomy and

103
continuity is clear, despite the obstacles that exist in the
urban setting in Mogadishu. We now turn to test the alternate
model set forth in earlier chapters. The model will further
demonstrate the processes that make for continuity and change

in household social structure and composition.

WW

Meyer Fortes's assumption is that nuclear and extended
families appear to be of different types, but are nevertheless
potentially part of the same kind of household as it passes
through different phases, ie., expansion, dispersal and
replacement. The alternate model propounded in this study
concerns primarily fragmentation of the household, for it this
phenomenon that causes dramatic changes in households and the
status of women. The following discussion will demonstrate
why the alternate model provides a more viable explanation for
the continuing flux in household form and its subsequent in
the roles and status of Somali women.

The model is considered from the point of view of the
"original household," which comprises a husband, his wife and
children. Two primary household types may be identified in
Mogadishu, namely, original household and stem households.
The original household comprises the nuclear family and no
precise factors are involved at this stage of household

progression. Stem households, however, are the result of

104

particular phenomena and processes that over time, eventually
begin to affect the original household. Four specific factors
are involved in determining the various forms that stem
households may take: marriage, polygyny, divorce and
migration. Secondary catalysts that may also affect the form
that stem households take are economic variables; the
differences between low-income families and high-income
families are thus readily apparent.

Polygyny results in the creation of more than one stem
household and all have roots in the original household. At
divorce we have the break up of the original household and the
creation of one stem household. When families migrate from
the rural areas to the city, a number of stem households may
be created. The forms of households stemming from the four
processes identified above are discussed in greater detail
below.

A number of factors and circumstances may be associated
with changes in household form: however I have elected to
discuss only those which.may be said to have a more direct and

rapid affect on household social structure in Mogadishu.

105
In Mogadishu, the original household begins with a couples
marriage and ends with the birth of their last child. This
process is characterized as expansion of the nuclear family
through the birth of children. Figure 9 illustrates household

form as a consequence of this initial process.

Figure 9

Household Form in the Original Household

 

 

 

 

At the climax of this initial process, namely, marriage and
the birth of children, the original household moves steadily
towards fragmentation. Fragmentation is defined as including
factors other than marriage of the children of the original
household. Fiegmentation refers specifically to the
stochastic flux in households due to the great mobility of
members and the continuous fission and fusion that takes
place. Changes in household structure during the process of

fragmentation arises from a series of decision-making

106
operations in the sphere of marriage, divorce, polygyny and
migration.

I now turn to evaluate how decision-making processes in
each of these spheres affect changes in household social
structure and the position of Somali women. The departure of
children is not desired but nevertheless occurs. All Somali
families expect that when their children marry they would live
in the household and that there would be no dispersal of
family members. A rather small number could, however, meet
this expectation. In upper income households married children
prefer to set up their own household. Sons aspire to become
household heads themselves and to have control over their own
resources.

Furthermore cultural norms regulate residential patterns
at the time of marriage. Residence at marriage in Somali
society is defined by the patrilocal principle. The bride is
expected to reside with her husband and his family. From the
point of view of the "original household" dispersal is thus
sanctioned by specific residential rules at marriage.
Daughters leave to set up home with their husbands and their
families. Sons of upper income households also move to set
up home independently. In poor families the expectation is
usually fulfilled when married children bring their spouses
to live in.their'households. Large families are desirable for
economic reasons. The pooling of resources and income is

essential to eke out a subsistence in a society in which the

107
cost of living has increased tremendously with a simultaneous
increase in unemployment.

The decision to marry is one of the factors that results
in changes in household form, namely, the addition or
dispersal of family members. Figures 10,1, 10.2 and 10.3
illustrate the household form created by marriage of family

members.

Figure 10.1

Marriage of Son in Low-Income Household

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 10. 2

108

Marriage of Daughter in Low-Income Household

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 10.3

 

Marriage of Son in Upper-Income Household

 

 

A O
rL__l__J

W

,__—...-——~

 

 

 

 

U? 6

y

 

 

L___.\

 

 

 

 

109

The households involved in the process of negotiating the
marriage do so on behalf of the bride and groom to be.
Bridewealth or mghg; has to be negotiated and agreed upon by
both households as parties to the marriage. After the
marriage ritual the girl from the original household moves to
reside with her husband. The household loses not only a
family member, but also her labor which may have centered
around marketing, petty trade activities, performing household
chores and taking care of younger children. For sons of low
income families who bring their spouses to reside in the
original household, the household gains a family member who
is expected to take over the household chores and other
activities that may have been performed by the daughter lost
to another household.

The Ihousehold forms that emerge from ‘the resultant
marriage patterns demonstrate that fragmentation of the
original household takes place when sons and daughters marry
and set up residence away from ‘the original household,
creating a stem household. The term stem household is used
to describe a household condition resulting from changes
taking place in the original household. While marriage may
be said to mark the beginning of the fragmentation of the
original household, a farrago of factors are at play
significantly altering the form and social structure of the
original household.

The case study cited below is a good example of how

110
fragmentation alters the structure of the household and the
position of women. Fragmentation of the original household
occurs when Xabiba migrates to Mogadishu and later through

divorce.

Qass.§tudx= Xabiba

Xabiba was born in the region of Galgudud. She grew up in a
rural household of five brothers and four sisters. Her father
raised cattle and her mother was a housewife and also milked
and tended the cows so that she could sell the milk in the
local market. Xabiba remembers that life was hard especially
during times of drought. Taking care of the younger children
and helping in household chores occupied most of Xabiba's day.
As a teenager she decided to migrate to Mogadishu to live with
relatives. Her’main reason for going to live in Mogadishu.was
her hope that she would be able to gain employment as a maid
or become involved in market trade and thus contribute to her
household in Galguduud. She worked as a maid for a year and
then became a street vendor for a few months selling
cigarettes. Xabiba then got married to one of her cousins,
an arranged marriage by her parents. She moved to live with
her husband and his family. Her husband decided to divorce
her after ten years of marriage. She was left with three
children. Her husband did not pay any alimony or child
support and Xabiba moved in to live with relatives. Xabiba

now has to support herself and three children. She receives

111
family support sometimes and contributes to the household by
engaging in market trade selling eggs.

A second factor that causes fragmentation is polygyny.
Polygyny is common in Somalia, although heads of households
indicated otherwise when asked, "how'many wives do you have?"
As a result of polygynous marriages household heads have the
responsibility' of' maintaining' perhaps two or ‘three stem
households. Moreover, the decision to have more than one wife
is. both. culturally' and economically’ determined. Somali
culture is based on Islamic principles which sanction the
practice of allowing a man to have up to four wives. The
decision to have more than one wife is also based on economic
considerations: only those men who are economically well-off
with sufficient capital can afford to run more than one
household. A rather interesting feature in Mogadishu today
is that a young woman of marriageable age is unable to find
a spouse of viable economic standing who is able to readily
support a wife. The young woman becomes the wife of a man
who is already'married and.who has already established.himself
as head of a household and who is economically well off.
Polygyny is therefore common among high income«groups. Figure

11 shows how decisions involving polygyny operate.

112

Figure 11

Polygyny and Household Fragmentation

original

household

 

 
  
   

Male-head
household

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

( culture :>¢ (:decisions :)-———d(: economy >

 

 

W

l C polyiyny j l

 

 

 

Household Household 4
2 Household
3

 
     
   
 

Partial
Household

 

 

 

 

113

The head of the household is essentially the head of not only
the original household, but also the three stem households.
The creation of three separate households results in the
formation of stem households; the original household is still
in existence. The children of wife two, three and four
usually reside with their mothers in separate households. A
significant feature of households resulting from polygynous
marriages is that they share a common household head.
Polygyny results in the creation and formation of stem
households.

The decision to divorce also results in the destruction
of the original household. In Somali society the decision to
divorce is vested solely in the husband. Islamic or Sharia Law
takes precedence in such matters and no wife is allowed to
divorce her husband. The divorce process is rather simple and
uncomplicated: the husband has to utter the words, "I divorce
you," three times to his wife in the presence of three
witnesses. The majority of divorces take place without any
court intervention. Divorce 'in Somali society does not,
however, result in the creation of two separate households,
ie. , one male-headed and one female-headed. The original
household ceases to exist and there is therefore a complete
breakdown in the original household. Figure 12 illustrates

household form resulting from decisions to divorce.

114
Figure 12

Divorce and Household Fragmentation

original
household

 

 

 

 

 

 

(decis ion-divorc9 ——'/ohh b re aks . %

 

 

 

W

original hh
@Ult‘ 2 hh D—fl male-headed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/
incoporate.
l
‘_,
V
divorcee

into house
of kin

115

The head of the household sets up his own household. The
divorcee (ggngh) almost always moves to another residence at
divorce, that of her extended kin members. Divorce thus
results not only in fragmentation of the original household,
but also incorporation of the divorced women and her children
into the household of her relatives, for example that of her
brother.

A third factor affecting household structure is that of
migration from the rural to urban areas. Somalia is currently
undergoing one of the highest rates of urbanization in Africa.
The social, economic and cultural consequences are crucial to
the country's development process as the relationship between
town and country changes in what was until recently an
unurbanized country of Africa. Smaller centers and trade
settlements are indeed integral to the pastoral economy, but
the original functions of many of Somalia's towns have been
rapidly overtaken by urbanization, with migrants coming from
within and outside Somalia's borders. Towns like Baidoa and
Kismaayo, which according to the 1975 census contained around
thirty thousand inhabitants, have doubled in size in the last
decade. In the early 1960's Mogadishu had some eighty
thousand inhabitants. Two decades later the population had
increased ten fold. The currently accepted figure for
Mogadishu is 850,000: some sources put the figure at around
one million (Ministry of National Planning, 1987).

The process of migration from the rural to urban areas

116

in Somalia is a common phenomenont‘ Migration to the city of
Mogadishu may be attributed to the following factors: (a) the
city represents economic opportunities and a means of
supplementing ones income, (b) the vagaries of pastoral,
nomadic and agricultural pursuits in a land of periodic and
severe droughts has accounted for a tremendous influx of
migrants to the city, and (c) Mogadishu is situated near two
of the most prosperous and populated areas in Somalia, ie.,
the Shebelle river and inter-riverine plateau and serves as
a focal point for those areas.

Due to the above factors migration to the city occurs at
an extremely high rate. Furthermore, there is a tendency for
migrants to remain in the city even if economic opportunities
are limited and unavailable. Table 7 gives some indication

of the place of migration of heads of households in Mogadishu.

Table 7
o o Hous 0 ds
E] E 5' !lf§ . . E !
Xamarweyne 15%
Mogadishu 4%
Galgudud 14%
Mudug 16%
Lower Shebelle 9%
Hiran 9%
Middle Shebelle 7%
Ethiopia 6%
Bay 5%

West Galbeed 4%

117

Table 7 (cont'd)

Togdheer 2%
Bari 2%
Bakol 1%
Kenya 1%
Luuq 1%
Sol 1%

Galgudud and Mudug Regions are located in central Somalia and
the inhabitants are primarily nomads and pastoralists. it is
therefore not surprising that the overwhelming majority of
respondents migrated from these areas to the city for economic
reasons. Somalis migrating from the riverine area of the
Middle Shebelle have also settled in Mogadishu in search of
better economic opportunities.

Heads of households from the rural areas have been forced
to migrate to Mogadishu. The developmental cycle has
therefore been conditioned by decision-making processes
constrained. by climatic and economic factors. In such
circumstances all household heads indicated that their
children had to be left with relatives (especially grand-
parents and extended kin members) in the rural areas because
of insufficient income in the city to support a large family.
The decision to migrate radically alters the structure and
composition of the original household as shown in the Figure

13.

118
Figure 13

Migration and Household Fragmentation

CGXP3331°T1 )__’Coriginal hh >——)( rural area )

 

 

 

 

fission

 

 

 

C climate 7—C causes D—AC economy 7

 

 

 

C fragmentatioge—C migration >—-)( incorporation >

 

 

 

\/

children rural kin in
izrigigil hh in hh of hh of kin in
“ kin in rhh city
area

 

 

 

 

119
The form of the original household is altered in two ways:
(a) dispersal, now defined as leaving children with relatives
in the rural area results in incorporation of additional
family members to households of extended kin.members, and (2)
the commencement of a second expansion phase for the head of
the household now settled in the city.

The climax in the cycle of fragmentation of the original
household occurs through the death of the head of the
household. If any adult sons have remained, the eldest will
take over the household as his own after the death of his
father. .At the death of a female in a female-headed.household
a different process occurs as that for male-headed households,
because the dissolution of the household is more likely to
occur. The original household is sometimes substituted by
the formation of a "new" household, headed by an elder son
that remains. The death of the original household head marks
the end of the fragmentation cycle. This process is

illustrated in Figure 14.

120

Figure 13

Death and Household Fragmentation

 

 

 

C death ) > female hh SUbStitutio .
no SOUS

 

 

 

 

8» male hh
I
sons remain

 

 

female is

deceased

 

 

 

 

 

- substitute 6— creation of 4
"new" hh

121
The household takes on the identity of the "new" household
head. The existence of the original household and of the
partial household is over. No one succeeds to its head.

Certain decisions are critical to the households success.

§BEE§I¥

The household is a significant unit of analysis in Somali
society. The various types of household physical structures
indicate the social and economic strata of urban households
in Mogadishu. Income generating activities as well as support
networks provided by extended kin members during crises and
non-crises situations are vital to the existence and future
security of the household.

A farrago of household forms are generated by a series
of decision-making processes in the realm of marriage,
divorce, polygyny and migration, or what I have termed the
male domain (culturally determined). This contrasts with the
decision-making processes of the female domain or economic
sphere. Migration, however, is a factor found in both the

female and male domains.

122
M

1. The housing pattern in. Mogadishu is rather unique
compared with other Tropical African cities. Many cities in
Africa comprise high quality government housing close to main
administrative zones. For a detailed discussion of the
housing and residential patterns in Tropical Africa, see
Anthony 0' Connor, (1983), The African gity, pp. 193-239.

2. The high proportion of Somalis in the military have been
an ever present phenomenon, including those who hold no
regular jobs.

3. See Dan Bauer (1977, 1985), figusehgld ghd Socighy in
Ehhigpig. Bauer applies Fortes's developmental cycle model

to his study of changing household form in Tigray society.
His study is a social anthropological study of decision-making
in Tigray peasant households, and examines decisions which
effect the composition and resources of the household. An
important theme is the constant flux in the composition and
socio-economic positions of households.

4. Several valuable discussions of rural—urban migration
already exist. See Clyde Mitchell, 1959, "The Causes of Labor
Migration," hulletin of the Ihteg-Afzicah Lahor Institute,
vol. 6, no.1, pp 12-47: J.B. Riddell, 1978, "The Migration to
the Cities of"West. Africa: Some Policy Considerations,"

Journai of Modern African Studies, vol. 16, pp. 241-260; K.

Swindell, 1979, "Labor Migration in Under-developed Countries:
the Case of sub-Saharan Africa," Phogress in hhhgh Geogrgphy,
vol. 3, pp. 239-259: Michael Todaro, 1971, "Income
Expectations, Rural-Urban Migration and Employment in Africa,"

Internahional Qbor Review, vol. 104, pp. 387-413: and J.

Nabila, 1979, "The Processes of the Decision to Migrate in

Ghana," in R.K. Udo (ed.): PopulationI Education Sohgcebggk
for sub-Sahahan Africa. Nairobi, Heinemann.

CHAPTER FIVE

HOUSEHOLD DECISION-MAKING AND WOMEN'S WORK

Motion

"Women are a great working force which the reactionaries
undermine," President Maxammed Siyad Barre, 8th March 1975
(quoted in Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla, 1982: 57). The words
of the President of Somalia vividly echo the economic status
of women in Somalia today. (There is an overrall consensus
that women are exploited and oppressed, have no freedom of
action and are held in the lowest terms. Despite the
subservient position of women, women interact in their
societies and alter' their’ environments, and employ
constructive efforts to deal with their world.

Somalia is a country with a pastoral nomadic society.
Almost 80% of the population live in the rural areas where
survival is demanding and hard. The primary social unit is
the immediate family mg or :31, consisting of father,
mother and children, and unlike the nuclear family, extending
to the blood relatives of both spouses. Since the Somalis
trace their descent through the male, the term L691: refers not
only to the immediate family, but also applies to the man's
family and most distant relatives. Somali political

organizations are based on kinship, thus an aggregate of

123

124
families inter-related and bound together by blood, live,
travel, camp and go to war together. In other words the ggg;
composed of lineage or alliance of lineages, share the same
properties as kinship groups.

Great importance is attached to the tribe, the clan, to
the big family with many sons, and to communal thinking. In
nomadic families with frequent local disputes over land,
water, women, invaders and other rights, it is essential for
each family and lineage to be as large and as strong as
possible, and its strength is very much dependent upon the
number of sons.

Male superiority is intricately woven into customs and
Islamic traditions since the Somalis are patrilineal the
nomadic lifestyle is suited to the conveniences of the men.
Women are dependent on a traditional division of labor which
is heavily biased against them. A contradictory feature of
women's position in the family is the belief that without
their generous heart, patience, sense of responsibility, hard
work, and awareness of kinship, the system.would not survive.
She is expected to provide wider services to all the extended
family members, as this type of family is both a social and
judicial family. Yet, she is dominated by the man. The
explanation seems to lie in the social institutions, patterns
of the patriarchal social order, and on the need of the man
for a woman to bear him sons.

Apart from her ties to her children, to enjoy better

125
economic security and safeguard her livelihood, a typical
Somali woman is expected to constantly display an attitude of
tenderness, spontaneous self-denial and self-sacrifice, not
only towards her family, but also towards the whole tribe or
clan of her husband.

Various family structures, household decision-making and
changes in household form greatly affect women's statuses and
roles. Household decision-making resulting in continuous
household flux may have far reaching and unanticipated effects
on women's economic activities. The household is the most
important unit not only of production and guiding access to
resources, but also a unit through which women exert control.
Women's participation in activities beyond the closed circle
of childcare and household maintenance are clearly
discernible. In order to understand the aspirations of the
Somali woman, her struggle against all economic and social
odds, and her subordinate status, one must view her as
actively progressing towards balancing these odds.

In.Somalia. a woman is traditionally considered to be the
backbone of the family: it is her responsibility to keep the
house and bring up the children. The social position of the
family is determined by the husband, but it is widely held
that a family is mainly what the wife makes it. The
influential position of the woman in the Somali family is not
easily recognizable since her position is always relegated to

the background, while that of the man remains in the

126
forefront.

In this chapter I will explore the primary importance of
the multiple roles of Somali women as mothers and providers
at the very core and foundation of their families. Women's
networks are studied outside the domestic domain typically
associated with women. Furthermore, I will evaluate women's
decision-making processes in order to evaluate how women gain
control and autonomy in the economic sphere. Work in the
sense of income generating activity is an essential part of
a woman's life. Furthermore women's time-use strategies must
be viewed as an important means by which women maximize their
income generating activities. Women's economic decisions must
therefore be seen in the context of multiple and inseparable
roles understood within the broader spectrum of the society.

This chapter discusses the above issues by focusing on
the following: (1) women's economic tasks and income
generating activities, (2) the effects of household decision-
making on women's economic status, (3) women's trading
activities and techniques for maximizing income, and (4)

women's time-use strategies and household consumption

patterns.
W e ' W 'o o ouse 01
Very few women in Mogadishu do not work . For the

majority of women, their work is within their own home.

127
Women's work includes child-bearing, child care, food
processing, purchasing and preparation, mending and washing
clothes, housing cleaning and a farrago of domestic chores.
In addition to their domestic work, women are involved in
work which enables them to generate an income either in cash
or kind so that the survival of the household can be ensured.
Women's work is absolutely essential in many cases for the
survival of poor families in both female-headed households
and in those where there is a male head of the household who
may or may not be working. Table 8 lists the distribution of

occupations for women in urban households in Mogadishu.

Table 8
O ' o W
Distrist cua'o Percent
Wadajir housewife 75%
traders * 10%
domestic servant 5%
nurse 5%
veterinarian 5%
Hodan housewife 80%
businesswoman 5%
civil servant 10%
medical doctor 5%
Xamarweyne housewife 90%
traders 10%
Yaaqshiid housewife 65%
traders 35%
Wardiigleey housewife 85%
civil servant 5%

weavers (mats, baskets) 10%

128
Table 8 (cont'd)
* traders here include those who sell food produce, milk,

eggs, sweets and clothing. WOmen traders work either from
home or sell their wares in the local market.

In upper income households more women are involved in
government jobs. Professional women also predominate in upper
income households. Amongst the more privileged are those
professional women working in government and private business.
It is well known that women as a whole in comparison to men
are under-represented in government positions and employment
in absolute numbers. Nevertheless, in some areas of
Mogadishu, government employment is as equally an important
source of income for'women as it is for'men. In poorer areas,
government employment is the more important source of income
for men than it is for women. Working women can be divided
into two groups: those who work because they want to and those
because circumstances make it vital that they do so. While
a majority of women defined their status as "housewife," it
is clear that their work involves more than domestic chores
alone. In upper income households, more women are involved
in government jobs and in professional occupations.

The proportion of women who are government employees
clearly declines in poorer areas. Small-scale women traders
are the largest single occupational group of private-sector
workers. Self-employment is a more common source of

employment for women in low income households. Amongst those

129
who have little education or training are the petty traders
and artisans, as well as manual workers in service, for
example domestic work, labour and manufacturing.

Small-scale artisans are defined as women involved in
weaving mats, baskets, fans, brooms or home-based activitie.
In poorer areas the proportion of women earning income this
way is much higher. Food producers are defined as home-based
working women making helix; (fried balls of bean flour), hhhfg
(bread from maize flour), and other food items. Women
involved in home-based economic activities play a significant
role in generating additional income to ensure the survival
and continuation of the household. Table 9 indicates the
trading activities performed by women and the uses to which

their income is put.

Table 9

W ' v' 'e 'n o a 's u
2151mm Location Wm
Wadajir 1 milk home/market 400 so.sh. hh

3 eggs/mats home/market flexible* hh

4 veg/cigaretts market 300 so.sh. hh
Hodan 1 eggs home 200 so.sh. hh

1 icecream home 200 so.sh. hh

1 milk home/market 400 so.sh. hh

1 mats home 250 so.sh. hh

1 hats home 240 so.sh. hh
Xamar W. 1 dressmaker home 680 so.sh. hh

1 aghhhzi home 200 so.sh. hh
Yaaqshiid 3 milk home/market 400 so.sh. hh

3 mats home 250 so.sh. hh

2 eggs home 100 so.sh. hh

130

Table 9 (cont'd)

Ward. 3 milk home/market 500 so.sh. hh
1 vegetables market 300 so.sh. hh
3 eggs home 200 so.sh. hh

* Weaving mats involves a great amount of time, in the range
of two to three days and therefore income derived through
selling mats varies.

Men's and women's incomes are not totally independent of each
other since there are customary standards for the division of
responsibility and for interpersonal transfers.‘ This,
however, is not to deny that there is mutual dependence and
complementarity within the household. The nature of
interdependence is not easily discernible or readily
identifiable in households in Mogadishu. Furthermore, even
in the presence of of a certain degree of dependence,
complementarity between the sexes may shift in response to
changed economic conditions.

Somali women are dependent on the traditional division
of labour which is heavily biased against them. Nevertheless,
the data shows that wherever women perceive it possible to
have a certain amount of economic independence, they are quite
prepared to endure the drudgery. Women are, however, weary
of having to struggle hard in order to contribute towards the
upkeep of the household, and especially so if the husband has
no regular employment or is unemployed. A number of women
identified their status as "housewife." It is clear, however,

that their ability to manipulate their circumstances by

131
strategic planning and involvement in petty trade and other
home-based economic tasks demonstrates their deep concern for
the provisioning of the household.
The case studies cited below reflect the lot of the
Somali woman and focus specifically on income generating

activities.

W: Faduma

Faduma born in the Lower Shebelle Region is fourty five years
old and has been a housewife for many years. She has had no
formal schooling but a couple of years of religious
instruction or Quran school. Faduma was widowed some years
ago and decided to sell eggs in order to generate an income.
She remarried at the age of fourty. Her second marriage was
arranged by her parents and Faduma was given in marriage to
her cousin. Faduma, however, continued to engage in trading
activities. She had two children from her first marriage and
received support from her mother and sister. Fadumo works
seven days a week selling eggs in the local district market.
The income derived from selling eggs amounts to approximately
five hundred Somali shillings per day. Her second husband is
unemployed and financial support provided by her daughter and

brother-in-law also help contribute towards the household.

132

Qase_§tudx_N21__2: Zehra

Zehra, born in Harar province in Ethiopia, is fifty years old
and sells imported wheat products such as spaghetti in the
local market. She completed elementary school and a few years
of Quranic instruction. Previously Zehra sold sorghum, but
found it difficult to obtain during prolonged drought periods.
She thus switched to selling pasta. Her daily income is
approximately two thousand Somali shillings per day. Zehra's
husband is unemployed and she is the sole supporter of her
household consisting of seven children herself and her

husband.

£a§s_§tudx_N91_11 Aamina

Aamina is thirty years old and was born in Mogadishu. She is
married with ten children. She has had no formal or Quranic
instruction. Aamina indicated that her husband has been
unemployed for over a year. Her daily income from selling
shiffon and cotton material is approximately three thousand
Somali shillings per day; .Aamina is the sole supporter of her

household and receives no family support.

Qase.§tndx_N21_11 Xalima

Xalima was born in the Lower Shebelle Region. She is fourty
years old and is divorced with seven children. .At divorce she
received no support from her husband and had to provide for

herself and her children. Xalima decided to sell vegetables

133
at the local market. She discovered, however, that selling
vegetables was not economically productive and her earnings
were insufficient to meet the total needs of running the
household. Xalima now sells kitchen utensils and her daily
income is about two thousand Somali shillings per day.

The lives of Somali women reflected in the case studies
may indeed speak for the majority of Somali women.in Mogadishu
today. Economic autonomy may be the prevailing concern for
Somali women. If Somali women did not try to attain some
level of economic autonomy and control in providing for the
household, the household may actually be in a perpetual crisis
situation. Survival in Mogadishu depends upon some form of
employment. The women expressed positive feelings towards
being self-employed and being able to contribute to the
survival of the household. The women studied, were however,
still concerned that their husbands were unemployed or unable
to provide for the household on a regular basis. The money
earned and.the fruits of their labour were held in high esteem
by women.

This may be attributed to the fact that in pursuing
income generating activities, Somali women have complete
control over their economic enterprises. This may appear to
be a contradiction, for as previously stated women are
dependent. upon ‘the 'traditional division of labour.
Nevertheless in cases where men are unemployed or have no

regular income, women have a certain degree of autonomy and

134
freedom of choice in making decisions about economic tasks
that can benefit the household.

The division of labour, access to productive resources,
and income between the sexes as well as responsibility for
providing food and food money is a complex process in Somali
households. Some women who make roasted peanuts, icecream and
cold drinks, or buy sweets in bulk, use children to sell them
in the streets and markets. These children are either paid
daily or monthly, take a commission on each sale or are simply
supported by their families or relatives in return for their
labour. Children employed in this manner can be classified
either as wage earners or dependents. Children and relatives
are the major source of help for women working in private
business.

Ordinarily it is taken as a given that money earned by
a woman will be put directly into food purchase, whereas that
of a man will not. The details of how food purchase
arrangements are worked out, and under what circumstances
there are dual household budgets are further complicated by
household structure. In Mogadishu, household expenditure
arrangements, especialLy in poor households involves women
maintaining the household with all their income being spent
on food and other household purchases. Among the income
earning strategies which help supplement shortfalls in
household food provisioning are the operation of social and

economic networks, eg., rotating credit groups and women's

135

income generating activities. Migration and social networks
are also mechanisms that households use to get by
economically.2

Many women feel that they can contribute more
productively to the household by expanding their role in
family management and sharing family income which will make
a difference in their status. A.woman who contributes to the
income of the family and who is also a mother cannot be
dominated or controlled by a man in the same way as the woman
who is entirely economically dependent on a man, whether he
is her father, a brother or her spouse.

With a high proportion of households with no men working,
income generating activities by women play a vital role.
Table 10 gives an indication of the number of households and

the number of productive members in the household.

Table 10
o W't u 5 W0 'n
Number of households with both spouses working 18%
Number of households with one spouse working 82%
Major decisions: joint 59%
wife only 17%
husband only 21%
other family members 3%
Salary Use
His: household expenditure 79%

Hers: food and household 100%

136

The overwhelming number of households have only one spouse
working. Women who indicated that their husbands were
unemployed usually referred to them as "vagabonds" meaning
that they had no regular job or income, but would sometimes
engage in commercial activities in order to earn some money.
Nevertheless, women did not rely on their husbands to purchase
food or support the household on a daily basis. The income
generating activities employed by women in lower income
households are absolutely 'vital to the survival of the
household. In Mogadishu, the term @523 sage is sometimes
applied to people who have no occupational identity and who
drift from one job to another as opportunities arise.

Another phenomenon explored in relation to the status of
Somali women are rules governing ownership and inheritance.
Ownership and inheritance indicate that in poorer areas a
significant proportion of women raise cattle and goats. The
majority of women had acquired these through purchase and
owned them jointly with their husbands. Table 11 indicates
that sole ownership by women is a rare phenomenon in Somali

society.

137

Table 11
W
2155.212: WWW
Wadajir 10 (joint) 15 (joint) husband Hodan
7 (joint) 10 (joint) husband

Xamarweyne 0 0 0
Yaaqshiid 25 (24 joint) 0 husband

1 inherited
Wardhiigleey 30 (joint) 5 1 inherited

3 husband

1 sole own.

The father is head of the family and the ultimate controller
of family property. Somali women have no legal identity in
the strict sense of the word. Her property and assets are
handled by the male head of the family, either the father,

brother or husband.

5 o d 's'o -M k' n Women's conom'c St tus

Decisions affecting the status of women in Somali society
concern migration and that of divorce. In the case of
migration, shuffling of household.membership by out-migration
of certain members at times of diminishing resources is a
strategy employed. by' heads of households to ensure the
survival of the household and its members. Child-shifting is
a mechanism for distributing or sharing the responsibilities
for the benefits of children. Such strategies remove children

from the original household because a parent is unable to

138
provide for’them, and furthermore, the poor household.can turn
for sustenance at a later point to that household. Labour
migration outside of the area is another mechanism. Such
migration may contribute in the short term to former
residential unit security. Migration, can only be activated,
however, if a social support system is available. Table 12
shows the distribution of women born outside of Mogadishu,

indicating migration from rural-urban areas.

Table 12

highhpiacezpiage of Ohigin of Women in Mogadishu

1215:1191: LBW t'e mum
Wadajir 70% 30%
Hodan 85% 15%
Xamarweyne 10% 90%
Yaaqshiid 55% 45%
Wardhiigleey 75% 35%

With reference to the "place of birth" category we are able
to discern migration patterns. The majority of Somali women
in Mogadishu come from the central regions of Galgudud and
Mudug. The case of women in Xamarweyne is unique because the
"reer Xamar" are the earliest coastal inhabitants of Mogadishu
and their forefathers have lived in Mogadishu over several
generations.

The decision to migrate affects the position of women in

two ways: (1) women ensure the survival of the household by

139

perpetuating rural income earning strategies, and (2) secure
the survival of family'members, especially'young children.left
in the rural household of extended kin members. A significant
number of rural women now living in Mogadishu indicated that
income generating activities of ‘women. are vital to the
survival of the urban household. In most cases men coming
from the rural areas are unemployed and have no steady or
regular income. Women migrate to escape poor positions in
the social and economic stratification system which limits
full participation in the rural opportunity system. They
regard the city of Mogadishu as an area of expanded
opportunities and resources. Once they arrive in the city
they make pragmatic attempts to relate to the urban conditions
they encounter, as individuals, as representatives of social
groupings and as women. The strategies are in all cases
related to economic factors.

The decision to divorce has an even greater impact on
social and economic status of women in households in
Mogadishu. It is clear that while married women constitute
the largest number of working women, the group with the
highest proportion of employed are those who are widowed and
divorced. Table 13 indicates the proportion of divorced women
and the overall effects of divorce in relation to residential

arrangements and change in household structure.

140

Table 13
D'V 2 :1 i E .3

Distrist W Wane e'e
Wadajir 15% 10%
Hodan 30% 20%
Xamarweyne 5% 5%
Yaaqshiid 20% . 10%
Wardhiigleey 25% 20%

Somali marriage is highly unstable. The continuous flux in
household form is demonstrated by this trend towards divorce.
Divorced women are coerced into the work force primarily
because of the lack of support provided by former husbands.
Table 14 gives some indication of the distribution of women
receiving financial assistance as well as employing their own

techniques for generating an income.

Table 14
G e ° iv' ' s o D'vo W
Item BQIQQDE
Received child Support: 40%
Received Mehez: 25%
Received Alimony: 0%
Received Family Support: 75%

Other Income Generating Activities: 61%

141

The majority of divorced women received no child support or
alimony from their husbands. The great majority of divorced
women have had to rely on extended kin support networks, as
well as generating an income by their own economic enter-
prises. Wage activities comprise the following: weaving mats
and baskets, trade in food produce, and trade in other items
such as gold jewellery and clothing.

Furthermore, only a minority of women studied received
the mghgx, which is a stipulated sum agreed upon at marriage,
to be given to the wife at divorce as a surety. Thus, the
decision to divorce greatly affects women's economic position.
An increased burden is placed on women, who have to generally
fend for themselves in securing the well-being of themselves

and their children.

WO a e ouse 0

There are two basic locations for trading activities in
Mogadishu. The first are the modern shopfront developments
extending along almost every main road in Mogadishu, and
especially streets such as.Jidka Makka, Jidka.Siinay and.Jidka
Soddonka. The second less visible locations are the village
type markets found in every district (twenty three in number) .
These traditional markets are of central importance to the
Mogadishu economy for a number of reasons. It is to these

locations that the major part of the produce from the rural

142
areas comes each day. It is in the vicinity of these markets
that the main food warehouses or hhhhggzg are located, for
example Via Egypt near the Xamarweyne market. The markets are
the primary sources for food supplies often purchased daily
by the vast majority of households in Mogadishu, and certainly
by the poorest households.

The markets are also important for the employment
opportunities they offer. A major proportion of the regular
workers in these markets are women. It is also to these
locations that many young men and.boys come looking for casual
manual labour. For the Municipality of Mogadishu the markets
are the major single source of tax revenue. Every trader in
every market must pay a minimum of twenty Somali shillings
per day to the municipality. Table 15 lists the kinds of items

traded by women involved in the market economy.

Table 15

Wo e e co om
11211511135911 25125311;
Eggs 5%
Pasta 2%
Pasta and Vegetables 6%
Clothing 3%
Kitchen Utensils 6%
Gold Jewellery 3%
Perfume 3%
Bran 6%
Cigarettes 5%
Canned food 5%
Oil 3%
Rice/Corn/Beans 3%

Garlic/Cloves 2%

143

Table 15 (cont'd)

Tea/M15515: 2%
Milk 2%
Grass 2%
Vegetables 3%
Pasta/Oil/Sugar 3%
Corn 5%
Mats 3%
Stallholder/groceries 2%
Fruit 4%
Wooden Stools 4%
Beans 3%

A significant proportion of women engaged in market trade are
the only source of support for their households. If they did
not work the household would have no regular source of income.
The case studies cited below illustrate the predicament of

women involved in market trade.

MW Xabiba

Xabiba is fourty years old and sells eggs for the past year.
She was born in the district of Wardhiigleey and did not
attend any formal or Quran school. She is divorced and lives
alone with her two children. At divorce her husband provided
no child support or alimony. In order to support herself and
her children Xabiba began weaving mats and baskets for sale.
She then decided to sell eggs in the local market. The money
earned from selling mats and baskets was used as capital to
engage in market trade. The eggs are purchased from an
individual who in turn purchases them from the poultry farm.

Each egg is sold for nine Somali shillings each and her daily

144
income averages about five hundred Somali shillings. Xabiba
works seven days a week. Daily tax payments amount to twenty
Somali shillings per day. Xabiba receives no family support

and is the sole breadwinner of the household.

W Xawa

Xawa is fifty years old. She was born in Bossaso Region and
migrated to Mogadishu as a young girl. She sells tea and
ghjggzg from a stall in the local market and has been doing
this for the past two years. Xawa has been widowed for four
years and makes all decisions concerning the household. Her
ten children assist her in daily household chores as well as
operating the stall in the market. Xawa stated that at first
she sold fruit, mainly mangoes and then decided to have a
stall in the local market. She walks on foot to the market
daily. Tea leaves and essential ingredients used in making
ghiggyg are purchased from stores in the market. Tea is sold
for five Somali shillings per cup and ghjgghg for one Somali
shilling. The daily tax paid is twenty Somali shillings.
Xawa's daily income is approximately two hundred and fifty

So.sh. Xawa is the sole provider for her household.

Qgsg Study N9, 3: Warsan

Warsan is fourty five years old, was born in Mudug Region and
lives alone with her seven children. Her husband is retired

and lives in Saudi Arabia for medical reasons. . Warsan herself

145
had lived and worked in Saudi Arabia for a few years. Her
husband provided her with the essential capital in order to
commence trade in gold jewellery. Warsan purchases the gold
jewellery is purchased from private individuals and then sells
the jewellery as second-hand on the open market. She travels
daily to the Xamarweyne market by bus to sell her wares.
Warsan reported that her income is flexible ranging from
twelve thousand to fifteen thousand Somali shillings per day.
She does not pay tax. She is the sole supporter of her

household and works six days a week.

4: Dheqa

Dheqa is twenty five years old and was born in Hiran Region.
Her husband is unemployed and she is the sole breadwinner of
the family. Relatives helped Dheqa with the capital to start
her trade in vegetables. Income derived from selling
vegtables amount to approximately one hundred and fifty So.
sh. per day. Her brother also contributes to the support of
the household as Dheqa's earnings are insufficient.

Women engaged in selling food produce and other items are
in most cases the sole providers for their families. Table
16 shows the distribution of income in the household for

market women and the reasons for engaging in this occupation.

146

Table 16
MW

Sole support of household:
Yes: 64%

Additional support by:

Brothers and sisters 38%
Children 10%
Parents 20%
Extended kin 32%
No: 36%

Previous Occupation:

Housewife 78%
Student 6%
Unemployed 5%
Shift from farming to trade 6%
Raised livestock 5%

Reasons for Engaging in Market Trade:

Additional hh support 60%
Widowed 7%
Divorced 8%
Husband unemployed 17%
Support parents 2%
No job after high school 2%
Help mother in store 2%

Difficult to obtain sorghum 2%

Assistance received from:

Own funds 33%
Support by husband 12%
Extended kin 33%
Immediate family 22%

Trading activities by women therefore constitute a major
source of income for households. ZMoreover, in a vast.majority

of’ households women. are the. breadwinners. Furthermore,

147
previous occupation gives some indication of the great shift
from that of housewife to market trader. Women are coerced
into engaging in some form of market trade due to three
primary factors: (1) additional support for'theihousehold. (2)
the husband is unemployed and (3) divorce. Market trade is

not without cost as shown in Table 17.

Table 17
WW
§Q§§§ EQIQQDL
Winn
Transportation by bus 56%
Walk on foot to market 44%
Tax
Payment in tax 84%
No tax-illegal traders 16%
W - 5
Work six days 64%
Work seven days 36%
0 ur se om:
poultry farm 4%
stores 63%
private purchase 15%
market 8%
pasta factory 4%
farm 2%

own cattle 4%

148

I 1 . S 1' 1.”.

100-500 30%
600-1000 18%
1100-3000 23%
3100-6000 16%
6100-10000 7%
above 10000 8%

The main costs incurred as a result of the market enterprise
are, transportation to and from the market, payment of tax to
the municipality and the process involved in obtaining the

produce or item traded.

WOLL‘I,‘ 11“" -. ‘O‘S ..no_ r'- ‘!-,° CO! .I0 .01

How do women utilize their time in completing both
household and other chores? What chores are most time
consuming? The most time consuming task according to most
women is the time involved in food preparation. Women
reported spending at least six to eight hours a day cooking
food for household consumption. The principal constraint to
women's increased participation in other income generating
activities is the tremendous amount of time spent in
completing household chores, especially food preparation.
Preparation of food is both time and energy draining as
indicated by both time-use and questionnaire data. Table 18

illustrates the amount of time spent daily by women in

149

completing household chores.

Table 18

' ' - ' s
W54 WI! 55112
Food purchase 92% 56%*
Food processing 74% 43%
Food Preparation 84% 45%
Cleaning house 74% 67%
Washing/mending clothes 75% 69%
Child care* 74% 87%
Weave mats/baskets* 34% 0%
Raise livestock 20% 0%
I. ! 1 1° ! 18‘
More than twelve hours a day 84%
A few hours (additional help
reduced hours) 16%
151W
No leisure time 54%
Had leisure time* 46%

* help was provided by immediate family members (daughters)
and also by extended kin living in the household. In a few
cases domestic servants were employed on a fulltime basis.

* older children usually helped with child care.

* women from upper income households were the only ones that

reported having leisure time, usually spent in the form of
watching television or visiting relatives

Household chores are performed daily by the majority of women.
Some women receive help from immediate family members in child
care and purchasing food produce from the local market. The

majority of poor and lower middle class women are busy all day

150
working at household chores, preparing food and home-based
economic tasks. The upper middle class and upper class woman
is able to hire servants to perform household duties thus
releasing them from the drudgery of housework.and child care.
This enables them to have more leisure time and also to pursue
work outside the home.

One of the most important strategies employed by women
in Mogadishu in order to maximize their time concerns
household consumption patterns. In order to gauge womens'
time-use strategies modes of household consumption were
studied as the main indicators of techniques constructively
employed by women. Strategies used in time-use and household
consumption involved a study of the prevalence of imported
wheat products (ie., pasta) over traditional Somali food
(ie., maize and sorghum).

Data concerning the change in the quantity of maize
consumed by urban households were collected through formal
interviews with women as well as observing womens' daily
chores. Questions specifically concerning women's time use
strategies centered around the consumption of "traditional"
(maize) versus "non-traditional" foods (imported pasta and
rice). Questions related to household consumption were: (1)
whether the members of the household consumed maize; (2) the
changing pattern of maize consumption over the years
(increased, decreased, no change): (3) reasons explaining the

change in the quantity of maize consumed: and (4) if maize

151
consumption changed, what were the preferred substitutes.
Results of the survey illustrate the following features
and patterns of consumption of urban households and womens'
time-use strategies. Virtually all households in Mogadishu
consume maize on a daily basis, at least for breakfast in the
form of gnjggng. Table 19 lists the distribution of

households consuming maize, pasta, and rice.

Table 19
o Hous o s o
Wig oeo
Consumption declined 76%
Consumption increased 4%
No change in maize consumption 20%

The survey illustrates that the consumption of "traditional"
foods (maize) over the years by urban households varies across
different income groups. More specifically, the reduction in
maize consumption by poorer households is not as high as that
of higher income households. All of the households whose
maize consumption had increased.and all of the households that
reported no change are from poor income families. In contrast
all upper income households reduced their consumption of maize
over the years. Indeed it is clear that imported wheat
products and rice are more readily available to higher income

households who possess more purchasing power.

152

The rapidly changing preferences and tastes of urban
households may be attributed to the following factors: (1)
locally produced cereals, ie. , maize and sorghum are currently
available to consumers in an unprocessed form: processing of
these cereals in order to prepare traditional dishes such as
53193.19: m and _s_o_q;;, therefore involves more time and
labour input by women: and (2) the opportunity cost of time
required by the urban consumer to make a trip to the
neighbourhood grain mill has increased due to the following
factors: (1) a shortage of labour in the household due to the
continuous flux in the household, (ii) the cost of
transportation to the mill has doubly increased for those
urban households who hire domestic servants to perform this
chore, and (iii) pasta and rice are increasingly being
preferred for taste and are thus becoming the common urban
dishes in an increasing number of households.

The reason most often cited for the decline in maize
consumption is the amount of time and labour that is needed
in its processing and preparation. The majority of women
reported the drudgery and time involved in processing and
preparing maize as the sole reason for the shift towards
"ready-to-cook" pasta and rice. A few households cited
"taste" as the influential factor in the change in household
consumption patterns. A rather interesting feature reported
by many households is that the younger generation prefer

eating imported wheat (pasta) and rice. Poor households

153
indicated that they eat pasta and rice only when they could
afford to do so.

It is important to note that the value placed on time by
urban women may in fact be changing as more women are getting
involved in work outside the home, as well as spending a great
deal of time engaged in home-based and other income generating
activities. Furthermore, women's income generating activities
form a vital means of contributing to the running of the
household. Given the circumstances that a fairly large number
of men are either unemployed or have no regular job, the
economic tasks performed by women are absolutely crucial.
Some of these economic tasks are listed as: weaving mats and
baskets, raising livestock, and trading enterprises.
Considered in this light the time constraint placed on women
no doubt indicates that they would shift to easily prepared
foods, ie., pasta and rice.

Patterns of income, consumption and "investments" of
households are expected to reflect the constraints under which
each sex operates. Women earn small amounts on a regular
basis and therefore tend to be responsible for the household.
Consequently the daily level of nutrition and standard of
living may depend more heavily on the woman's than the man's
income. Fluctuations in the income levels of men may not
alter the provision of daily necessities, but may have an
important effect on lump sum expenditure such as type of

housing. Household consumption patterns therefore reflect the

154
proportional contribution of men and women to total

expenditure, and not the level of total income.

Summary

One disadvantage that working women experience is lack
of recognition given to their role as workers in the economy
and as income earners in households. The conventional notion
that most urban women in countries such as Somalia are
dominantly self-employed in the so called informal sector is
applicable especially so for the vast majority of low income
womenJ’ In Mogadishu the most significant feature of women's
employment is the extent to which 'upper class' women have
been able to obtain government employment.

Decisions made by the head of the household to dissolve
the marriage further exacerbates the burden placed on Somali
women in trying to make ends meet. Despite the support system
provided by the extended kin network divorced women still find
that it is absolutely necessary to generate an income. Home-
based economic activities are perhaps the major outlet for
generating an income. Women engage in trading food produce
and other items in order to support their households. In a
majority of the cases, women involved in such economic tasks
are the only means of support for the household.

Womens' time-use strategies center around maximizing time

in order to devote their efforts to income generating

155
activities. Urban household consumption patterns have shifted
from locally produced cereals such as maize and sorghum to
imported pasta and rice, even though some pasta and rice are
currently produced in the country. Women have definite
startegies for achieving economic autonomy and improved social
conditions. Strategies such as migration, hard work, and
manipulation are all vital to the survival of the household.
Migration involves mobility and hence escape from obstacles
to individual progress in favour of creating or taking up more
options. Hard work brings direct rewards for their labour and
enables them ‘to feed, support and rear ‘their children.
Through manipulation women engage in ‘strategic planning' and
thus mobilize needed resources and engaged in certain actions
that lead to institutional change. Women are social actors
with. definite ‘views about strategies needed. tot overcome

certain situations.

156

HO§8§

1. Phyllis Kaberry pointed out the importance of capturing
this interdependence. See Phyllis Kaberry 1982, _Qh§h_ih_thg
nggsfigig_. London: H. M. Stationery Office.

2. The creation and functioning of rotating credit groups
was discussed in Chapter 4. See pp. 86-99.

3. Informal sector activities have been characterized as
"small in scale, limited to simple technology, and little
capital, (but) economically efficient and profit making." See
Keith Hart, 1973, "Informal Income Opportunities and Urban

Employment in Ghana."lournal_of_uQ.dern_Afr_1gn_§tudie5 No-
11.

CHAPTER SIX

MARRIAGE TRANSACTIONS, HOUSEHOLD SECURITY AND THE SEEKS
OF WOMEN IN SOMALI SOCIETY

Introdustion

Any discussion of women's economic status in Somalia must
be based on an awareness of the cultural perceptions of its
peoples social system. Traditions orally transmitted from
father to son, and from mother to daughter, through
generations serve as a legal code which delineates the role
of every member of the family, and which expresses their
attitude towards life. These traditions are all-embracing
and clearly defined combining elements of a nomadic social
organization and Islamic beliefs. Strong adherence to Islamic
ideology and nomadic social ties form the conceptual basis of
a masculine Somali culture.

The ideal picture of a man which Somalis refer to as nin
Egg]; (a real man) is seen as strong, courageous, proud,
assertive, resourceful, honorable, daring and poetic. The
ideal woman is one whose strength must be of a kind capable
of concealing her man's weaknesses. A woman is traditionally
considered to be the backbone of the family. It is her
responsibility to take care of the house and raise the
children. The social position of a family is usually

determined by that of her husband, but it is widely held that

157

158
a family is mainly what a wife makes it.

In Somalia for centuries women have been treated as
valuable commodities, not only for the purpose of acquiring
bridewealth for daughters and sisters, but also by exchanging
them in order to settle disputes and heal old wounds between
men and clans. It is also common even today for young girls
to be given in marriage to elderly men simply because the
bridewealth is higher.

In this chapter I- am primarily concerned with trans-
actions that take place between households during marriage,
in particular, to evaluate how the cultural system ensures
the survival of the household. MMch has been said of the
effects of marriage but little of how it is established. Let
us now consider the transactions which join a couple together
as man and wife. Somali marriage further requires complicated
matrimonial transactions ‘which 'we can. broadly 'term
bridewealth. This chapter therefore addresses the social and
economic status of Somali women by focusing on the following:
(1) marriage transactions, rituals and the transference of
wealth between households, and (2) marriage instability and

the economic position of women.

Maggiage Ritual and Brideweaith Thansactiohs

In order to successfully establish and cement desirable

unions a Somali marriage has two aspects. The first is that

159

personal ties between spouses are established, and secondly,
a cooperative alliance between their lineages is also
established. Even ‘today these two aspects are clearly
reflected in modern Somali marriages. Almost all marriages
proceed in the following manner. The groom's family makes the
initial approach.to the prospective bride's kin.to ask for her
hand in marriage, and offers betrothal payments to the bride's
kin. When accepted, the groom proceeds to pay bridewealth in
the form of camels or cattle, or money. In earlier times
(Italian era) fire-arms such as rifles were also part of
bridewealth transactions and currency was in the form of the
Italian lira. The bride's family then makes arrangements for
the new family's household goods. These may include furniture
and other household items. The actual wedding ceremony
differs from. region. to region. Let us now' turn to a
discussion of the marriage ritual.‘

In southern Somalia the groom's family will choose an
elderly family member to consult with the bride's family. The
two sides negotiate payment of the hahah or bridewealth. The
groom's family will then give to the bride's family gahhahi
which in a sense insures the proposal of marriage has been
accepted. Both families then arrange for the actual wedding
ceremony. The groom's family also distributes money or other
items to the bride's family generally called yahag. On the
wedding day the bride is elaborately adorned with henna on.her

hands and feet in the most spectacular designs.

160

It is important to note that all marriages are now under
the influence from the West. After the 111.8511 or actual
wedding ritual officiated by a ahaikh, the families and
friends proceed to the reception usually held at a local
hotel. It is more common, however, for the nihah to take
place shortly after the marriage proposal has been accepted
by the bride's family. The actual wedding ritual in the form
of a western reception marks the transition of both parties
as husband and wife. The reception may even take place
perhaps a year or so after the hikah ceremony has been
performed. Economic factors were usually given as an
explanation as to why there is a long period of waiting from
the 11111511 to the reception. The groom has to accumulate
capital during this period so that he is well able to provide
for his future wife.

At the reception rings are exchanged and Somali singers
perform lilting songs referring to the future happiness of the
married couple. The songs also stress the importance of
bearing children, especially sons. Food and drinks are
provided for the guests. The bride and groom then retire to
their household. On the seventh day after the wedding
reception has taken place, the ahaash celebration is held?
This ritual is associated with women only and members from the
bride's family predominate at this ritual. The women usually
form a circle around the room and an elderly women starts

singing a song referring to the marriage. Other women respond

161

by dancing in the center of the circle. A woman designated
as the lead singer plays the drums enticing women to respond
to the songs and join in the dancing. The singing and dancing
proceeds for a few hours. Thereafter, the bride is brought
into the room and the ahaaah or scarf is tied around her head.
It is very important in the ahaagh ritual that the woman
chosen to place the ahaaah on the bride's head has never
before been divorced. The bride is now formally considered
a wife with her status incumbent upon the duties relegated to
that of a wife.

The ahaaah celebration is particular only to southern
Somalis. Somalis originally from the north now living in
Somalia do not perform the Shaaah ritual.a The hikah and
reception follows the same pattern as that for the southern
Somalis. The ritual that marks the actual transition of the
new bride to wife is called mi. The gaa; ritual takes place
on the fourth day after the wedding reception. The bride's
family prepares the haagg or what may be described as a dummy
representing the bride in all her wedding attire, including
shoes and jewellery. It is said that the bride's family
spends at least a few days making the 1152:2- The inner
structure of the haagg itself consists of containers called
aahi. Inside the Sati is a delicacy known as agha made from
ground beef, clarified butter and dates. This is to be
distributed to the groom and his immediate family members at

the conclusion of the gaaf ritual. Events in the gaaf ritual

162

may be described as follows. The bride and groom are seated
in the main courtyard. The bride's family enters with the
haagg and a number of containers filled with the agha. The
collection of containers filled with gdka are called aiigia.
The bride's family are seated separately from that of the
groom's who sit in the enclosure with the bride and groom.
The events that are to follow are most fascinating indeed.

The most important person in the ritual is a lady from
the bride's family referred to as aghagiyag or soldier and she
holds a cane in her hand. It is her duty to call upon the men
seated around the ham to undress the hagg or dummy
representative of the bride. There is a specific sequence as
to how this should be done, for example the head dress or veil
has to be removed first followed by the gloves and jewellery.
The am calls upon a man from the groom's family to
start the elaborate ritual. If he defaults by not following
the particular sequence as to how to undress the haarg he is
faced with a penalty. He then has to proceed to two "judges"
who are kin members of the bride. The "judges" then hand down
his punishment which may include reciting a poem, drinking
salt water or singing a song. The songs or poems usually
refer to the nomadic way of life extolling the nomad and his
camels. If satisfied with the way in which he has handled his
punishment, the man may then sit down joining other members
of the groom's family.

The askahiyag proceeds to call upon the men until the

163

hears; is undressed. This ritual may take several hours or
even days. Once the haarg is undressed the aghagiyag calls
upon the men to untie the containers forming the actual
structure of the h§_e_rg. It is vital that the beginning of
the string used in binding the hidden containers be located
first. At the end of this rather interesting and mind
boggling ritual, the containers filled with ggha are
distributed to the people present at the ritual. Several
other containers brought by the bride's family are then
distributed to the immediate family members of the groom,
including his uncles. The undressing of the heirh symbolizes
‘ the bride's transition to that of a wife.

The particular gaaf celebration that I observed and been
a part of, carried on for a couple of days. After having
observed the ritual for over eight hours, no progress had yet
been made by the groom's family in completely undressing the
ham. The men had reached the stage of getting to the string
but after several hours were still unsuccessful. The groom's
family may have negotiated with the bride's family to open the
ham with a knife. This would, however, involve the payment
of compensation called haai by the groom to the bride's family
in the amount of ten to twenty thousand Somali shillings. The
groom's family did not opt for ending the ritual in this
manner, and thus proceeded the next day in their efforts to
untie the hidden containers.

The gaaf ritual is performed only if the bride is a

164

virgin. If the bride is not a virgin, her family may
negotiate with that of the groom and pay compensation in order
that the gaa: ritual may still be performed so as to "save
face." Attempts to discern the actual symbolism involved in
the gaaf ritual and in particular the events concerned with
undressing the hagm were in vain. Some individuals indicated
that the overall meaning implied in the events showed that the
longer the men took to untie the haahg the longer it would
take the groom to break the bride's virginity.‘

The ahaaah and gaaf rituals are both representative of
marking the transition of the status of the woman from that
of a bride to that of a wife. The personal bond, however,
between the bride and groom is established during the hihah
ceremony where the groom promises to provide for the security
of his wife. The ceremonial rituals following marriage
demonstrate the transactions concerning the households of both
the bride and the groom.

I now turn to an analysis of the marriage prestations
that cement this bonding process. Somali marriage is
comprised of the following transactions: (1) haha; or the
bride's dowry, (2) yarag or bridewealth, (3) gahhahi or
bethrotal gift, and (4) gihaag or dowry brought by the wife.
hahar is the primary Islamic component in Somali marriage and
no union is sanctified without it. Its nature and value may
be a piece of jewellery, money or livestock (sheep, goats,

cattle and camels). The actual nature and value must be

165

stipulated at the time of marriage and agreed to by the bride
in the presence of witnesses and an officiating Muslim priest.
It is the personal property of the wife and can be given to
her during the marriage or immediately at divorce. It need
not, however, be transferred by the groom to the bride before
or at the wedding. Mahar is essentially a divorce surety,
guaranteeing a divorced wife a small settlement.

An important part of Somali marriage is the payment of
bridewealth or yarag that the bridegroom offers to his wife's
kin. Once a marriage proposal has been made and before the
actual wedding ceremony it is customary to give a present
called gahhahi to the bride's kin. Traditionally Somali
marriage is regarded not so much as between two individuals
as between two kin groups. When asked who requested a girl
in marriage, the name of her husband's lineage is usually
given. Money, land, buildings, and other items may be given.
Most people believe that brideprice constitutes compensation
to the bride's family for the loss of a working member, as
well as a deterrent factor against easy divorce.

It is also customary that when a girl returns to visit
her family, she is given a substantial gift called ghihaag by
her father or brother. thhaag comes from the word an;
meaning hardship and implies the position of the future bride
in her husband's household. Dhihaad may also be an occasional
gift from the bride's family and may be continuous thus

draining the resources of the bride's family. The woman's

166

social position continues to be defined in part by her
membership in her father's house even after her marriage. She
keeps her father's name and seeks refuge in his house from
mistreatment by her husband. Dual loyalties of the married
woman are reflected in the lineage term of address she
retains. She retains part of the prestige structure of her
father's descent group while in addition becoming
incorporated, through her children, into the prestige
structure of her husband's domestic group. That her
patrilineal kinsmen bear the major responsibility for her
behavior in any 'case of honour' demonstrates the continued
legal and social identification with her father's group.

Furthermore, economic factors now play a vital role in
regulating marriage in Somali society. A common way to
initiate a marriage in the face of dire economic conditions,
takes place when the prospective groom elopes with his
prospective bride. If the woman's family has refused to
accept the proposal of marriage presented by the man, then
the couple may choose to elope. The couple travel to a
specific town where they may get married according to the
hihah ceremony. This form of marriage is termed gaagia or
gagia meaning "robbery" or "to take." This form of marriage
may result in conflict between the families concerned. Such
conflict and hostility can, however, be rectified if the
groom's family sends a delegation of elders to the bride's

family. The appointed delegation takes with them a guntih or

167
cloth tied with money to the bride's family. The Mia
belongs to the eldest maternal uncle of the bride. Conflict
and antagonism resulting from such a marriage may thus be
resolved in such a manner.

One may ask: "what are the marriage gifts for and what
do they do?" In the case of maha]: and yarag they convey
rights in the wife from her kin to her husband's kin. They
also represent a tangible public statement of the marriage
transaction which they announce and solemnize. Marriage
payments are characteristically made in prestige wealth. To
an increasing extent marriage prestations now include money
and other modern forms of wealth. Table 20 lists the

distribution of mahar and yarag transactions.

Table 20

harriage Prestations: Meher ahd Tarad

W 31555135525555 W859...
None 51% none 18%
Quran 2% goats 3%
Cow 1% camels 6%
Rifle 2% money 73%
Camels 14% Amount in
Money 30% so.sh:
100 4%
200 7%
300 4%
400 1%
500 10%
1000 36%
1500 1%
2000 8%
10000 1%
20000 1%

168
There is an indication that the vast majority of households
did not receive any yarad, primarily because the economic
circumstances of most households does not allow for this.
The actual rates of mahar and yang fluctuate with the overall
social and economic conditions. Attempts have been
introduced, however, to maintain a standard rate of exchange
for mahar payments which are now officially set at one
thousand Somali shillings. The transference of marriage
prestations in the form of yarag adds to the economic security
of the bride's family. The marriage of a daughter has a more
immediate effect on her household than those of sons. The
household loses the labor and economic input of a daughter.
The blow to the bride's household is softened by payment of
the yarag. The groom's household loses capital, whether in
the form of livestock or money.

The mahar transaction relates primarily to the personal
aspects of marriage. It unites two individuals without
reference to and without established links between their
collateral kin. The initial bridewealth gift gives the suitor
preemptive rights in his future wife. If he subsequently
marries someone else, he forfeits his gabbati. If the girl
and her kin default, they are liable to pay damages to the
suitor and his kin. If neither side defaults, the next issue
concerns the amount of bridewealth or yaraa which the girls
kin are prepared to accept. Long and delicate negotiations

ensue, resulting if the conclusion is favorable, in an agreed

169
and detailed settlement.

Whatever its components substantial bridewealth includes
contributions from a wide circle of kin, who thus tangibly
demonstrate their appreciation of the union as an alliance
with their group. The same holds true at the receiving end.
An equally wide range of kin on the bride's side receive a
share of the incoming yarag, emphasizing their collective
sentiment. They have to decide the character and quantity of
the gihaag or dowry which the bride will take with her to her
husband. This varies with the bridewealth and their
assessment of the desirability of the match. By sending a
generous dowry, the bride's kin parade their munificence and
pleasure. Any subsequent gift from the wife's kin during the
marriage is viewed as dowry, illustrating the ongoing
character of the relationship.

If a couple elope, marrying secretly in defiance of their
parents wishes no affinal connection is created and neither
side has any collateral claim on the other; Hence if the wife
dies, or is childless the groom has no sororatic rights at
all. In the event of her husband's death the widow is free
to marry as she chooses and her husband's kin have no claim
over her. The bilateral, collective ties of what is
considered a proper marriage reinforce the union of the two
individual spouses, and the rights and obligations on each
side reflect the character of the various marriage

.prestations. Furthermore, a substantial number of marriages

170
are arranged and a large percentage of marriages take place
between those who are related especially along patrilineal
lines. Table 21 illustrates the significance of kin ties and

arranged marriages.

Table 21

K' ran e r 'a es
Relation __r_Pe cent
5' I.
Related: 54%
Not Related: 46%
W
Arranged marriage 53%
Not arranged: 47%
If arranged, pleased with decision: 45%
Not pleased with decision: 8%
Wanted to get married: 45%
Did not want to get married: 8%
Why did you accept arranged marriage:

forced to accept: 21%

to have children: 32%
If forced why accept?:

migrate to city: 13%

obey parents decision: 8%
Could not refuse or say no: 18%

Could refuse: 3%

Kin ties play a significant role in regulating marriage. A
vast majority of women stated that they were not pleased with
the decision to get married, and especially so having no voice
in decision making and in the choice of a marriage partner.

A number of women indicated that the need to start up a family

171
and have children was the primary motive for getting married,
even if the marriage was arranged. Women's decision-making
and individual choices are restricted in the sphere of
marriage. Nevertheless a large proportion of women "wanted
to get married" so as to start up a family and have children.
The case studies cited below explain women's choices and other

aspects of marriage.

W: Fadumo

Fadumo was born and brought up in.Hoddur one of the seven
districts of Bakool Region. She did not attend formal school
nor religious school. As a young girl she spent most of her
time occupied with household chores and daily purchase of food
from the local market. At the age of sixteen she decided to
get.married. It was a love marriage and.her fiance approached
her mother for her hand in marriage as her father had passed
away. Her mother readily consented and Fadumo and her fiance
got married in Hoddur. Friends and relatives were invited to
grace the ceremony, goats were slaughtered as part of the
wedding feast and a Somali play and songs formed part of the
wedding celebration.

The yarag consisted of two thousand Somali shillings and
the mahaz consisted of six camels. On the seventh day the
Shaaah celebration was held. A goat was slaughtered and lunch
was served. During the aflaah celebration an old woman, never

before divorced, put the ahaaah or scarf on Fadumo's head.

172
Fadumo was married for seven years but did not have children.
Her husband fought with her because of this and divorced her.
He paid her six hundred So. sh. at divorce instead of six
camels. At divorce Fadumo moved to live with relatives in
Mogadishu. Her second husband was her neighbor in Mogadishu.
Her second marriage was also not arranged. The wedding
celebration was not as extravagant as the first because she
was now a divorcee. Her second husband did not provide any
yatag to her family but paid one thousand So.sh. in mahar.
He is a teacher and a party representative in the Ministry of
Agriculture. Fadumo now has four children, two sons and two

daughters.5

Case Study E2: 2: Xalima

Xalima was born in Harar Province in Ethiopia but grew
up in Baladweyn located in the middle Shebelle region. She
was married three times. Her first marriage was arranged by
her parents. Her first husband paid fourty camels, two
hundred goats and one rifle as yagg. M_e_har payments
consisted of four camels. Camels were slaughtered for the
wedding feast and a Somali play called ghaahtg was performed.
Her first husband raised livestock, especially cattle. After
a year of marriage he divorced Xalima and did not pay back.the
hahar. Her second marriage was to a soldier and was a love
marriage. No yarad was paid to her family as she was a

divorcee. Her second husband paid five hundred So.sh. as

173
mahar. .After a few'years of marriage Xalima had to go through
a second divorce as her husband did not want her. Her third
marriage was also a love marriage. No Brad was given and the
hahar payment was one thousand So.sh. Her third husband is
a mechanic and both Xalima and her husband work at a gas
station. Her two sisters live with her and help take care of

her three children.

£555_§tudx_No1_1: Maano

Maano was born and brought up in Lamadoonka, a village
near Afgoi in the Lower Shebelle region. She did not attend
formal school nor Quran school. She helped her parents tend
cattle. At the age of eighteen her parents arranged for Maano
to marry her cousin. A month after they had decided to get
married her husband brought an ox, two sacks of maize, two
containers of oil, ten kilograms of sugar, ten kilograms of
coffee and roasted coffee beans as gifts to her family. He
also gave a sum of one thousand So.sh. to her parents as
payment for yarad. Mahar payments consisted of a cow. During
her marriage Maano and her husband argued consistently and
finally she asked him to divorce her. He agreed on condition
that she repay all the food and.other items he had contributed
to her family and for the wedding celebration. She repayed

all these items but he did not pay back the meher. For three

 

years Maano remained unmarried. Her next marriage was a love

marriage also with one of her cousins. The yarad was three

174
thousand So.sh. and the mahar only sixty So.sh. Her second
husband was a farmer and they had three children. Her second
marriage also ended in divorce and he repaid the 315.119.: of
sixty So.sh. Maano left her children with her parents in
Afgoi and migrated to Mogadishu to live with her brother.

After a year in Mogadishu she got a job as a maid.

MW: Hersiyo

Hersiyo was born in Bulo Burti in Hiran Region. She has
six brothers and seven sisters. Hersiyo received elementary
school education.in.Bulo Burti and then moved to live with.her
married sister in Mogadishu. She completed secondary school
in Mogadishu. On her sisters death her parents decided to
hand her over in marriage to her deceased sister's husband
since she would be able to take care of the children as her
sister had and because she had lived with them and also taken
care of the children while she was alive. This form of
marriage is called xigaiing. Hersiyo was married at the age
of seventeen. There was no wedding celebration but only the
hijsah. No yarad or mahar payments were made as she was
considered as a "gift." After six months of marriage she fell
pregnant with her first child. Her sister had three boys and
four girls. Hersiyo has three maids who take care of the
children and also the household chores.

The case studies cited above clearly demonstrate the

dilemmas faced by Somali women and their non-participation in

175
decision-making processes which are primarily part of the male
domain. The role played by Somali women in decision-making
is rather limited, especially concerning those aspects of life
that directly affect them, eg. , the choice of a marriage
partner. Moreover, the amount in yatag and hahar payments
depend upon the social status of the woman. One of the main
factors relates to whether she is.a divorcee or widow and such

considerations substantially decrease bridewealth payments.

E' l l] E . E i!° E w

Somali marriage is not stable. One might argue that
Somali marriage is the frail, brittle thing it is because of
strong collateral pressures between actually or potentially
hostile lineages. Marriage transfers the immediate custody
of a woman from her father and brother to her husband but it
does not transfer her allegiance. In the inevitable tug-of-
war between her spouse and her kin, her kin regularly take
precedence. They are a patrilineal society in which, where
substantial marriage payments are made, a man can gain full
uxorical rights in a wife without her completely relinquishing
her own kinship identity. Throughout her life a Somali woman
retains her natal lineage membership. At her death her
husband has to contend himself with a sororatic replacement
bride from his dead wife's lineage. Requirements of

patrilineal descent are met by a form of marriage in which a

176
woman retains her own lineage identity and is not herself
completely absorbed in her husbands group, although full
uxorial and genetrical rights in her are transformed to her
husband.

According to Islam, divorce is the prerogative of the
man. He may divorce his wife at will and without court
proceedings. Divorce is very common in Somali society and
the unequal relationship between men and women enables a man
to divorce his wife for whatever reason he chooses.0 A.woman
can be divorced for failing to bear children, sometimes even
failing to bear sons. Since a wife's primary duty is to
produce children, a Somali woman is well aware that she may
be divorced or that her husband will marry another wife if
she is unproductive. The value of a woman is equated with
her’ ability to Ibear children, and. her status increases
especially with the number of sons she bears. The educated
few in Somalia who are prepared to reduce the size of their
families favor monogamy. Some young wives, however, find it
difficult to abandon their traditional Islamic beliefs towards
fertility and family size. Somali marriage is an unstable
institution today. Indeed, even a woman who has had several
children may still feel that her position is insecure, and
must be reinforced by more births, especially sons. This is
reflected in the attitude of men who marry a second wife when
the first ceases to bear children.

Polygyny is a strongly established practice, and although

177
less favored by the educated few, it is still widely accepted
on all social and economic levels of Somali society. The
existence of the institution of polygyny contributes to
marital instability, as it is a constant source of insecurity
for women. Table 22 indicates the outcome of the decision to

divorce and its effects on women's status.

Table 22

D‘ l W , E . S! !

Maxim greens:
Maritalfiatus
Not divorced 35%
Divorced 55%
Widowed 10%
We
Co-wife 43%
Always arguing 45%
Did not care during pregnancy 12%
W
nine months 12%
one year 12%
two years 12%
six years 12%
ten years 29%
twenty two years 12%
es 'v
Sharia or Islamic law 43%

Sharia and court 57%

178

Table 22 (cont'd)

51W
no alimony 100%
no child support 100%
received hahar 65%
received support/hhaihg 71%
none received 29%
none 29%
sold mats and baskets 28%
sold food produce 43%
R ' t' s
relatives 72%
did not move 28%

The older and.more important men are, the more wives they tend
to have. Thus privilege increases familial tensions, not only
between co-wives but also between the husband and his son.
The main reason cited by women as to‘why divorce is inevitable
is that the husband wished to take on another wife. Moreover,
the already subordinate and economically inferior status of
women is exacerbated by the decision to divorce. None of the
women studied received any alimony or child support.

As stated earlier, hahar is a means of safeguarding the
economic position of women. However, in many cases hahar is
not paid to the wife at divorce. Women who want a divorce
usually sacrifice their hahat in order to gain their freedom.
The case studies cited below reflect the frequency of divorce

and its effects on womens' economic statuses and roles.

179

95W: Khadija

Khadija is fifty years old. She was born in the lower
Shebelle Region. Her present husband has been divorced three
times and holds a job asechauffeur. Khadija has been divorced
three times. She has now been married for five years. She
divorced her third husband on the basis that he had wanted to
take another wife and Khadija severely opposed his decision.
He divorced her according to Sharia law and did not pay any
alimony or mahar. At first she received support from her
uncle and other extended family members. Khadija then began
making mats for sale and managed to take care of herself by

her own home-based economic activities.

W: Adai

Adai is thirty five years old and.has been married twice.
She was born in Baay Region. Adai stated that she does not
know why her first husband divorced her as he gave no reason
for his decision. They had been married ten years. He
divorced her according to Sharia law and provided no child
support or alimony but paid three hundred Somali shillings as
repayment of the hahar. Her father took care of her and her
two children. In order to contribute towards support of
herself and her children Adai, like Khadija began weaving mats
for sale. Her present husband does not hold a steady job but
is engaged in business activities. She now has two children

by her second marriage.

180
2555_§tndx_N51_1: Aamina

Aamina aged fourty has been divorced twice. Her present
husband who is a mechanic has also been divorced twice. Her
previous husband divorced her for no reason that she could
readily identify. They had been married ten years. He
divorced her according to Sharia law and provided no support
and did not pay back the mahar. Aamina had to rely on her
family for support and engaged in home-based activities,
making baskets for sale. At divorce she moved to Mogadishu
to live with her parents. She now has five children from her

present husband.

Qa55.§tud¥.flel_lz Xalima
Xalima is aged fifty eight and has been married four

times. Her’present.husband.has been divorced twice. iHer last
marriage ended because her husband did not take care of her
during her pregnancy. They had been married two years. Her
husband's neglect of her is attributed to him having another
wife, a situation which Xalima did not approve of. At the
time of her first marriage she was living in the Lower
Shebelle Region. She was divorced by both Sharia law and
court proceedings but did not receive any alimony or child
support. At divorce she moved to Mogadishu to live with her
brother. She now has thirteen children from her present
husband.

Somali marriage is rather brittle and unstable. We may

181
pontificate as to why divorce is so widespread in Somali
society, citing factors such as polygyny and inability on the
part of women to bear children.a Nevertheless, in order to
discover what rights women do have, if any, we need to look
to the legal system for answers to this dilemma.

The Family Law passed in 1975 under the tutelage of
Somali Womens Groups is considered to be a milestone for
women's legal equality and basis for the increasing strength
of a woman's legal status in Somalia. The Family Law has
given women the right to vote, accorded to them in 1963, and
the opportunity to hold political office and participate in
decision-making. They can enrol at any level of education,
and legally they have land rights with access to credit and
training. ‘Many of these changes, however, are not adequately
enforced, partially because the Law has a distinct, if
unintended urban bias. An example of the tension between
modern and traditional rights is found in the process of
divorce settlements and payment of the 1151191- In Islamic
tradition the.maha; must always be promised by the bridegroom
in front of the Shaihh who performs the wedding, in order that
the marriage take place. Payment of a substantial hahar has
always been regarded as a deterrence against divorce or as a
provision for the wife's subsequent welfare if her husband
dies. In the south the tradition of hahar has been less
strong, if only a token promise of one thousand Somali

shillings.

182

Socially conscious Somali women are struggling for the
implementation of the Amendments to the Family Law passed in
1975. Women now at least have certain rights in matters of
divorce and marriage. There are specific conditions attached
to marriage involving second, third and fourth wives. It is
strictly conditioned and restricted- Marriage must be based
upon mutual consent and respect. Brideprice and the marriage
contract were placed under the jurisdiction of civil courts.
The legal age of marriage became eighteen for girls and.twenty
for men, and the consent of at least one parent or guardian
is necessary for those under twenty. Divorce can only be
obtained by judicial action. Absolute right of the man to
divorce his wife as and.when.he pleases was abolished and.both
husband and wife have the right to divorce.

The 'present Family Law states that when a Ihusband
initiates divorce he is required to pay his former wife a
minimum mahar of one thousand Somali shillings, half of his
salary or other financial earnings in a year. A first
weakness of the law is that it refers to financial earnings-
rather than to the actual and total economic assets of the
husband. Awarded only half of his salary may not amount to
much as salaries in Mogadishu are quite low. Thus divorced
women who cannot adequately maintain their children after
divorce are forced to fall back on their own families for
assistance, or on their abilities to find and hold employment.

If neither family support nor employment is available to women

183
who live in urban areas they may be forced to engage in home-
based economic and other income generating activities.

A second weakness in the Family Law is that if the wife
initiates divorce proceedings the husband is not obliged to
pay the mahan. The right then for a woman to initiate divorce
is dependent upon her financial status. This specific
inequity in divorce settlement and difficulties in enforcing
other more equitable sections of the Family Law is still a
controversial issue in enforcing the legal rights of Somali
women. Many educated Somali women question the Law's present
ability to adequately safeguard womens' rights unless the
divorce sections are changed, and overall compliance increased
through media information and community education.

There is, however, a basic agreement that the Family Law
has given Somali women a fairly equitable legal status through
the establishment of her equal rights of inheritance, her
access to some basic level of family support, and her legal

ability to initiate a divorce.

summary

Bridewealth transactions represent the changes taking
place in Somalia today. The monetarization of bridewealth
reflects the economic changes current in Mogadishu. The
suggested determinants of marital stability therefore include

social structural factors particular to political, legal and

184

economic factors. Divorce not only affects changes in
household structure but also the economic status of women.

Maha: and yarad transactions not only form one of the
most important components of marriage in Somalia, but are also
dependent upon economic factors. The economic security of the
bride's household is jeopardized in cases where yarad is not
given. Furthermore the neglect on the part of the husband to
fulfill repayment of the mahar at divorce makes the divorcee
more susceptible to the dire economic conditions prevalent in
Mogadishu.

Legal steps have been taken to improve the position of
women. Nevertheless such measures, as noted earlier, do not
adequately enforce the rights pertaining to women, and

especially those concerning divorce.

185
Ngtéfi

1. I have had the wonderful opportunity of being a
participant observer in a number of marriage ceremonies, for
both the southern Somali and northern Somali households. On
one occasion I had the honour of being "best lady" for a gaafi
ritual.

2. At one of the shaaah rituals that I was allowed to
participate in, I was given permission to take photographs as
well as question the women directly about the events in the
ritual.

3. Regional differences are reflected very clearly in the
wedding rituals, for example those of the gaafi and ahaaah
rituals. The marriage institution provides perhaps one of
the best indeces by which to gauge regional differences.

4. Numerous attempts to unravel the symbolism embodied in
the creation and untying of the haatg proved fruitless. The
explanation provided here was given by an elderly gentleman.
Woman did not attempt to explain the gaafi ritual, and stated
that it was merely an occasion for "joking." The gaaf ritual
is peculiar only to clans from the northern regions of
Somalia, where the practice of female infibulation and
circumcision are widespread. One may therefore assume that
the explanation provided here may indeed relate to the bride's
virginity.

5. Although both polygamy and divorce are legalized by the
Islamic religion, the extent to which female circumcision is
a factor contributing to the causation of polygyny and divorce
is still not recognized. Dr. Mahdi Ali Dirie (1985) states
that many women are divorced by their husbands because of the
medical implications of female circumcision. See Dr. Mahdi
Ali Dirie (1985) WW
8 c licatio See "Social and Cultural Aspects of
Female Circumcision and Infibulation: A Preliminary Report,"
by Aamina Warsame, Sadiya Ahmed and Aud Talle, 1985.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The face of Mogadishu has changed remarkably since the
nineteenth century; Consequently, household social structure
and the overall status of Somali women have also evolved, with
dramatic changes occurring in both spheres. In this
dissertation I Ihave attempted. to show' that the changes
affecting household social structure are caused primarily by
decisions that are both culturally (male domain) and
economically (female domain) determined. I introduced a model
of continuous fragmentation in order to explain exactly how
decision-making processes in the realm of marriage, divorce,
polygyny, migration, and income.generating activities operate
to effect the position of Somali women and household
structure.

The way in which the subject matter was handled is
summarized as follows. I discussed the ebb and flow in the
evolution and expansion of Mogadishu in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. iFactors such as trade fostered by Indian
and Arab merchants, the introduction of a slave population and
the competition and rivalries between Shangaani and Xamarweyne
contributed significantly to the decline and beginnings of the
period. of revitalization. of IMogadishu. in ‘the nineteenth

century. The twentieth century witnessed a rapid growth in

186

187
the population of Mogadishu primarily a result of Italian
colonial rule. Mogadishu's population continued to increase
after colonial rule, and today is probably one of the fastest
growing cities in Tropical Africa. In discussing Mogadishu
as it is in the 19805, a description of the research area was
presented .

I argued that Fortes's "developmental cycle" model could
not adequately explain changes taking place in households, as
various factors other than marriage and the simple transition
from nuclear to extended families, are operating to radically
alter the structure of the household. The model outlined by
Fortes depends upon three specific phases, namely, expansion,
dispersal and replacement. The model of continuous
fragmentation which I introduced in chapter three is an
attempt to provide a more viable explanation for changing
household structure and the position of women. Central to
this model is the idea that the household does not proceed
through a sequence of specific phases, but that various
circumstances, events and decision-making processes greatly
alter the household. I have emphasized that decision-making
is the most vital factor in regulating such changes.
Decision-making on the part of Somali men is seen in the
sphere of marriage, divorce and polygyny. All of these
decisions exclude women who are not "free" to voice their
opinions and participate in decisions affecting their social

lives.

188

I have also discussed how the physical form of households
change according to economic conditions and the decision to
migrate. Household physical type is also influenced by Arab,
Italian and Somali characteristics. The social form or
structure of households was also evaluated in relation to
specific circumstances, for example, death of a spouse, in
order to illustrate how households change and the tremendous
flux present in household membership. The strategies open to
both male-headed and female-headed households were explored
in conjunction with support networks and rotating credit
groups. While income generation for male members emanates
from their ability to gain influence and initiate business
enterprises, the ability of women to have access to this form
of income generation is strictly controlled. Women have
access to rotating credit groups and also gain autonomy and
control in their economic pursuits. Money derived through
their participation in home-based economic tasks and market
trade gives women autonomy and control over the fruits of
their labor.

Despite the constraints imposed upon women, women are
able to manipulate their subordinate status through hard work
and adopting techniques to minimize their time-use. women
have control over their ability to engage in economic
enterprises that ensure the survival of the household on a day
to day basis. Women make constructive choices in attempting

to regulate the long-term survival of the household. Even in

189

the face of dire economic hardship and unemployed spouses,
women successfully'manipulate their circumstances. A woman's
sense of dependance on a man is minimized when she is able
to have a certain degree of autonomy in engaging in her own
economic activities. Time-use strategies analyzed in relation
to household consumption patterns is just one of the ways in
which women achieve control.

I have also discussed how the cultural context and
decision-making in the sphere of marriage controlled the
transfer of wealth and goods between households and the
continuous drain on the household of the bride. Bridewealth
transactions and the actual marriage and post-marriage rituals
engaged households in a web of exchange of resources (money
and goods). Tarag, haha;, and gahhati transactions involved
primarily the transference of money and goods to the household
of the bride, in a sense compensating her household for the
loss of her economic and labor input. The dhibaad transaction
in.contrast. is.a:means of continuously draining the resources
of the bride's familyu The case of marriages termed as gaadis
further demonstrates the extensive negotiations between
households and the compensatory aspects of Somali unions.

In conclusion, it must be emphasized that the secondary
status of women is contradicted in a number of ways. In
western cultures, the strongest of a woman's role within a
family, is her role as a wife. For a Somali woman, her role

as wife is the weakest and least powerful of those she plays

190

within the extended family system. Her role as sister and
aunt to her brothers and his family affords her considerable
authority and responsibility over family decisions. As a
sister and mother of grown children, she is consulted in all
decisions made by her brothers and sons. Her husband is
obliged to consult her only in matters concerning household
security.

Of prime importance to the status of Somali women, and
to the status of all Somalis, is the protection provided by
their own extended family. In the case of women limitations
are put on the husband by this protection. The Somali
proverb, "dhigeeda. ma lihid. ee 'waxaad leedahay dhaqmaad
keeda," states that a husband does not control his wife's
person, only her services. In addition, the important and
necessary contribution that a woman makes to the household,
enhances her standing. A woman also ensures her own status
as a mother with many children. Even today the blessings
showered on a bride include the wish that she "sleep on a bed
of ten," in other words should produce at least ten children.

It is important to understand both the strengths and
weaknesses of womens' traditional status in Somalia. Somali
women have a dual image. The first is embodied in the
conservative Islamic value system. The second is a more
powerful image derived from Somali pastoral heritage.
According to a popular legend, women played vital roles in

Somalia as peace-makers prior to the advent of Islam. Even

191
today these contradictory images are found in all aspects of
women's lives, but.it.is rarely understood.that they represent
equally true, if conflicting realities of female status in
Somalia.

In this dissertation I have followed Nancy Hafkin and
Edna Bay (1976) in looking at women as actors constructively
seeking to alter their status. In conjunction with such an
approach I have explored the areas in which women have control
over decision-making and those areas from which they are
excluded. The formation and function of rotating credit
networks is one of the ways in which women reduce mens
control over family finances.

An aspect of this dissertation that had a fairly
significant impact on policy makers in Somalia is the section
on women time-use strategies and household consumption
patterns. This data was also incorporated by the Food
Security Project (MSU-Department of Agricultural Economics
/USAID/Ministry of Agriculture-Somalia) in their study of food
security in Somalia. At a workshop held in May 1987, this
study (also in the form of a working paper) aroused much
debate. Somalia is self sufficient in maize and policy makers
were concerned that much of the urban population is consuming
imported wheat products (pasta). The Ministry of Agriculture
proposed that the Womens Organization initiate programmes to
educate urban Somali women to reintroduce maize in the

household diet. At the time of my departure from Somalia in

192
August 1987 this issue was still in the discussion stage.

In conclusion I suggest that if Somalia is to progress
it is absolutely vital that women's status be studied and the
roots- of women subordination investigated thoroughly.
Numerous projects funded by international donors exist in
Somalia and women should become an essential component of such
research. It is only by looking at women (the household as
the main unit of study), would we be able to find answers to
some of Somalia's problems, in particular those pertaining to
Mogadishu, the capital city where poverty and impoverishment

is as rife as in the rural areas.

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