Governing economic hubs and flows in Somali East Africa

project summary

This research and capacity-building project contributes to a better understanding of key economic and political processes that have shaped state formation in the Somali territories since 1991. The project wants to explain how the daily management of market centers and commodities contributes to state-building in Somaliland, Puntland, the Somali region of´Ethiopia and the Somali parts of Kenya. Thereby the project seeks to contribute to international debates and policy-development about fragile states and post-conflict statebuilding.
Our researchers study 1) how trade and transport operators manage select commodities in situations of weak statehood, 2) how trading and transport of these commodities effect security, revenue and regulation, and 3) how these processes produce different types of authority. We study and compare how Somalis trade and transport different commodities in three transnational economic corridors. Livestock and consumer goods represent the bulk of the commodities sold in these three corridors. The governance of markets and transport hubs is essential for local livelihoods and efforts to stabilize the region from below. The recent history of these three trade routes provides insights into processes of state formation and erosion in the region. We are particularly interested in how the daily governance of trade and transport effects the security, revenue and regulation of local administrations and communities. The project is implemented by a consortium of Danish and East African academic institutions that seek to strengthen qualitative social science research capacities in the Somali territories where higher education and scholarly research crumbled as a result of civil war.