Economy

Economically, the Juba River valley in southern Somalia has a special status as it is one of only a few zones where irrigated agriculture is practiced and surplus production is common. Since the yields of other regions, which depend on rainwater, are rarely sufficient to satisfy local markets, it is the settlements in the Juba River valley that supply the coastal and interior towns with agricultural products. The Bantu manned the caravans, which crossed this region in considerable numbers, in order to transship their goods to the nearby villages and cities.

In rural southern Somalia, the standard of living of the Bantu Somalis is quite low, and homes typically have no running water or electricity and few material possessions. Most Bantu farmers in the region are small holders, restricted to either low-level jobs or farming on land cultivated by family members and, occasionally, by a few hired workers. The average land area owned by each family ranges between 1 and 10 acres. This type of farming can provide subsistence and limited surpluses to the commercial market. Nevertheless, these farmers contribute the highest percentage to Somalia's staple food stocks, which include maize, millet, sorghum, sesame, beans, cotton, rice, vegetables, and fruits. Crops grown for commercial export markets include bananas, citrus, and vegetables.

Stagnant economic development among the Bantu people in southern Somalia probably has its roots in the Italian colonial period. Colonial officials confiscated the Bantu's arable farms, which were their only means of subsistence and economic advancement. Between 1935 and 1940, the Italian colonial authority also forcibly conscripted the Bantu into slave-like labor in order to establish large plantations to exploit the agricultural potential in the Juba River valley. This practice ended once the British Army in Somalia defeated the Italians in 1941. The 1940s until the early 1960s were predominantly peaceful years for the Bantu, who were free to farm with little interference from government authorities or hostile neighbors.

After independence, Somali authorities adopted a policy designed to prevent Bantu people from social, political, and economic development. Over the course of the late Siyaad Barre's military regime in the 1980s, more and more Bantu farmers became landless as large government-owned agricultural enterprises and members of the political elite used unjust land registration laws to displace the smallholder Bantu from their farms. Expropriation of this valuable arable and irrigable farmland from the Bantu allowed the new "owners" to exploit the land for cash crops.

Some of the Bantu have managed to move to urban areas in order to improve their lives. The Bantu in the cities work in building trades, woodworking, vehicle repair, tailoring, and electric machine maintenance. In the refugee camps, the Bantu have engaged in construction, manual labor, tree farming and nurseries, and vegetable gardening.

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