Abdulkadir G
This paper presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the available climatological data and information on droughts to examine the major causes of droughts recurrence in Somaliland by analyzing the drought occurrence in the past decades with special focus on drought categories and its impact on the livelihoods and sustainable development of Somaliland. The primary data used for this study was collected from the rainfall stations across Somaliland as well as climate data retrieved from CHIRPS gridded rainfall dataset. However, the main findings of the present study were; Somaliland is characterized by drought, which is known to have the most far-reaching impacts of all natural disasters. This obvious challenge is most likely to aggravate due to slow progress in drought risk management, increased population and massive land degradation. The study also found that after a large scale failure of the rains during the 2016 Deyr season have led to severe drought conditions across Somaliland, resulting in extensive growing season failures and record low vegetation. The most seriously affected areas in this current drought are the eastern regions. On the other hand, based on the available climatological data from the past, it clearly shows that Somaliland is likely to face extreme and widespread droughts in the coming years as climate change is anticipated to increase the intensity and frequency of drought. As a result, there is a clear need for increased and integrated efforts in drought mitigation to lessen the negative impacts of recurrent droughts.