Announcement of Survey Mission to Somalia on January 25, 1957

{) HOLD FOR RELEASE WOIILD II 181'8 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 25, D. C. TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 PR'ESS RELEASE NO. 475 FOR RELEASE A.M. Newsp~pers Friday, January 25, 1957 SUBJECT: Survey Mission to Somalia The World Bank has now transmitted to .the Italian Government the (----.....- ....,.._\., report of a>-<.)cial survey mission which has been studying the economy of the Trust Territory of Soma.liland, in Africa. The Trust Territory of Somaliland or "Somalia", was formerly an Italian colony, and in 1950 the ' ... . ' . United Nations Trusteeship Council returned it'to-Itallan administration for ten years. • Organized by the Bank at the request of the Italian Government, tQe mission was charged with surveying the economic development possibilities of Somalia in the light of the approach of independence in 1960. In it.s report the mission stresses that certain basic economic and financial decisions must be made now if the economy of the territory is not to deteriorate when the Trusteeship ends. Somalia today receives a subsidy from Italy equivalent to about $8 million a year and its products enjoy a fa".rored position in the Italian market. II "Without continuing financial aid at·ter the end of the Trusteeship, not merely for capital investment but also on current account", the mission says, "there would be a drastic reduction in present standards of adn4.rii- stration, education and the social services, the abandonment of much pioneer work already carried out, and the frustration of hopes for higµer living ,. standards in the future. Plans should initially be based on the assumption t_hat exceptional assistance may be needed in some degree for conceivably as much as 20 ·years beyond the end of the Trusteeship".  ,, -2- • The. Economv of Somalia Somalia is a poor country of 1.3 million people, with a harsh cli- mate and g.enerally ir...fertile soils. Two out of every three Somali are nomads moving from place to place to find food and water for their herds. J t (J The mission believes that livestock improvement is of fundamental importance. /J, '~'No other sector so closely affects the life or so many people and has so large an unrealized export potential". But the d·evelopment or 11vestock will necessarily be ,slow and plans should be laid now to encourage Somali 1 h:erdsmen- to adopt more effici~nt methods of" animal husb8-,ndry and to market 1 their procfucts. Extension services and expanded veterinary services are ' urgently needed, together with more water points for cattle and the censer- ·~ vation of grazing grounds. In the southern part of the country, Somali farmers grow cotton, •• groundnuts, millets and maize for their own use and for export in limited I\ quantities~ Yields are very low. \\\\ The mission report notes that they could be improved 1by better seeds and by better soil and crop husbandry, as well as by more effective control of pests, although the uncertain rainfall will always set a severe linlt where irrigation is not practicable. The greater part of Somalia's overseas income and domestic private employment is provided by. irrigated agriculture on European concessions, \ producing mainly sugar for local consumption and bananas for export. The banana industry, which accounts for more than two-thirds of Somalia's ex- ! ports, hasfto contend with unfavorable natural conditions and high transport co:3ts, ,.-,and in fact has survived only because of substantial protection in the Italian market. Much time and energy has gone into the search for an • alternative crop, but without result. The mission report concludes that an early decision on the future of the banana industry is therefore essential.  . ·~ 1 •: if ; .3 - ~ • ~· ~uch industry as exiJ,ts ·in Somalia produces mainly for the local market: The sugar industry accounts for palf the industrial output of the '" o country, and there is a tex,tile mill which produces about one-third of the Territory's needs for cotto,1 grey sheeting. The North of Somalia provides, 0 . G 1 j (.:) a large part of the world's supply of incense. Limited quantities of fish and animal products are also processed for'export. In 1954, the Trusteeship Administration put into effect a develop- ment prog'ram drawn up in collaboration with agencies of the United Nations and of the United States Government. The program, a smal)..~#ft or ;~ich I 'f' is being financed by U.S. aid, provides for de~,loP19-ent expenditures of p ,;) some So. 13.5 million a year (almost $2 m111;a,n) ·'through 1960.. Rather more ~ , than half is for the improvement of Somali~'s'livestock and farming, and . ~ about one-third for roads,. ports and airfields. These expenditures are 1n • addition to those on education, health and welfare services, which made up a large part of public investment in the...early years of the Trusteeship. Expanded social services and higher salaries have increased budget expenditures much more than revenues. Revenues cannot be expected to iri- crease over the next four years by enough to replace the exceptional aid from Italy. The mission concludes that early decisions about the amount and form of possible future aid are or prime importance. The mission was headed by Mr. D. Crena de Iongh, who was ,;the World ~ { Bank's fi:t~·st Treasurer and later its Executive Director from the Netherlands. \\ \ Mr. J.H. Wi1\J.iams and Mr. J.M. Jentgen of the Bank staff served as economists \\ il and Proferrsd~ John F.V. Phillips of University College, the Gold Coast, as I\ \\ \\ agriculturf adviser•' ~ l )i ((