Afmadow – history, culture and places to visit | Warar
Afmadow
Afmadoow · AfmaduA Lower Juba district town on the inland route from Kismayo towards the Kenyan border, set among the open rangelands of the Juba hinterland.
Overview
Afmadow (Somali: Afmadoow) is the seat of Afmadow District in Lower Juba, about 110 km north-west of Kismayo. It lies on the road that runs inland from Kismayo towards Dhobley and the Kenyan border.
The town is a market and service centre for a wide hinterland of rangeland and bush where herding communities live. OCHA's 2019 projection ranks its district as the second most populous in Lower Juba.
What makes it unique
- 01Spelled "Afmadu" on early British maps of Jubaland
- 02A gateway on the inland route from Kismayo to Dhobley and Kenya
- 03Its district is the second most populous in Lower Juba (OCHA 2019 projection)
History
Early 20th-century British maps of the Juba region spell the name "Afmadu", from the time when the area was part of British-administered Jubaland, before its transfer to Italy in the 1920s. After independence the town became the centre of Afmadow District.
Economy
Livestock and the trade around it, from markets to transport and supplies for herders, underpin the local economy.