Toward Climate-Resilient Agriculture in Somalia: A Review of Impacts,Challenges, and Adaptation Pathways

Abstract

Agricultural drought and heat stress are primary drivers of food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, yet the evolution and structure of research on these hazards has never been systematically examined. This study presents a domain-specific bibliometric analysis of scientific literature on agricultural drought and heat stress in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, using Scopus data from 2000 to 2025. A structured Boolean search yielded 346 publications, which were analysed using the bibliometrix R package to assess publication trends, citation dynamics, research networks, and thematic evolution. Output grew from near zero before 2010 to 54 publications in 2025. Ethiopia dominated with 175 publications (50.6 percent), followed by Kenya (62, 17.9 percent), while Somalia, Eritrea, and Djibouti together contributed fewer than 4 percent of regional output despite comparable climate vulnerability. Addis Ababa University was the most productive institution. Citation activity peaked between 2018 and 2020. Author productivity aligned with Lotka's Law. Leading journals included Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Remote Sensing, and Water. Keyword co-occurrence mapping identified drought, climate change, and Ethiopia as central themes, while integrated compound droughtheat stress research remained sparse. These findings expose persistent disparities in research capacity and identify compound event integration as the field's most pressing unmet need.