The livelihood of the Somali fishermen who work in the area around Mogadishu is dependent on fishing on a daily basis. They are currently struggling to continue their employment after a series of attacks by warships belonging to international forces patrolling the waters of Indian ocean, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to protect ships from pirate attacks. It appears the warships suspect the fishermen of belonging to or supporting the pirates.

At least eight fishermen are still missing from two fishing vessels which were attacked last week, according to the fishermen in Mogadishu’s coastline of Lido. Colleagues in Barawe called the fishermen in Mogadishu and were told that they have found the two boats empty.

Somalia Report speak to Mogadishu fishermen who are shocked by having their fishing vessels being targeted during fishing trips. A fisherman, Saad Madey, told Somalia Report about the consequence of attacks and what the fishers are now planning to do, “Our jobs are in jeopardy recently. There were similar attacks in the past which started once the piracy activities emerged in our oceans, but the degree of danger is now much higher. The situation in the waters of Indian oceans is now appalling. We are still waiting to hear from eight of our friends who have been missing in the ocean for five days now. We don’t know what happen to them, they were on two small fishing boats but we found the boats alone off the shores in Barawe.“

Saad told Somalia Report that he is concerned about whether there is a future for fishermen in Somalia at all, as a result of the obstacles against the fishing which supports the lives of thousands of Somali fishermen. “We cannot afford to stop fishing because of this kind of aggression, but we are keeping our fingers crossed to see what happens in every next minute. Always vigilant, stay connected and even make sure for the decision to go the sea very carefully. Some boats already went for fishing today, some others are planning to do so, but most of the fishers are not working today, and have not been during the past three days,“ Saad Madey said.

Ali Mohamed, another fisherman who was waiting to begin a fishing expedition with a group of young fishermen near Mogadishu’s old port, told Somalia Report the fishermen here are upset over what is happening in the sea, they are calling their families to inform that they are going to fishing. “I’m going today to fish with these group, we are aware of the danger but we usually go anyway. I myself have survived an attack before. It was an overnight trip, the ocean was very calm and we were fishing in waters far from shore. We saw what we assumed was a warship shining a strong light on us, my friends told me that we will be destroyed if we did not take action to save our lives. We started to head away, unfortunately the ship fired deliberate gunshots at us, but fortunately we were not seriously harmed, although one of our friend sustained a slight injury from the gunshots,“ said Ali.

AMISOM has recently started maritime operations near the port of Mogadishu to escort merchant ships and other cargo ships carrying humanitarian shipments such as the World Food Program (WFP), but this does not provide any protection to the fishers who are often traveling from nearby Mogadishu’s coastline. Fishermen complaints are directed at the warships that patrol day and night in the far waters. The problem is seem as a matter of misunderstanding between the Somali fishermen and the international maritime forces conducting a range of anti-piracy operations.

Somali analyst Mowlid Hirsi in Djibouti talked with Somalia Report on the issue, “I think the fishermen still need help both from the government and also NATO. This is a clear proof of how much misapprehension they are running into. Clearly, the maritime forces are not able to identify quickly whether the boats belong to fishermen or pirates, that is the problem really need first to be solved. I hope a solution can be found by the government ministry for fishing, or another proper offices.“

Mohamed Ahmed Nur, the mayor of Banadir, reacted towards the troubles of fishermen by saying, “The government is establishing methods to save the lives of the Somali fishers, as our ministries and other agencies working in the ocean are already involved in finding a better strategy for forwarding the interests of fishermen, but there is a need of better training for fishermen. We are working on ideas to illuminate fishing vessels, but this efford I don’t think belongs government only, it is also necessary to involve efforts by the international agencies such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and other sectors to help assist fishing strategy in Somalia.“

The price of fish in Mogadishu’s fish markets has climbed recently due to the danger which the fishermen face.

Fishing is one of the major sources of incomes, and one of Somalia’s richest natural resources, and provides income to thousands of fishers inside Somalia. Several hundred fishing vessels enter the Indian Ocean every day from Mogadishu, Marka, Kismayu, and Barawe.

The 36 year old rapper known as 50 Cent tweeted "So I just got back from Somalia it was crazy out there. I have never seen anything like it. I'm going to feed a billion people Street King"

Specifically, the beverage company called Street King will donate 10 cents from each retail purchase of one of it's beverages. Depending on the wholesale price, that's a hefty chunk of profit when considered a charitable donation, but not so much when it is taken from the marketing budget. And based on the anti-humanitarian type of lyrics 50 Cent (aka Jackson) sells to kids in his other business, it is clear that Street King is all about marketing. Jackson's normal line of work is writing and rapping about murder, drug sales, violence and the usual ghetto hate that passes for entertainment. Despite his "gangsta" stance, Jackson is a well spoken, intelligent and very wealthy businessman who has exploited black street culture for significant profit.

His latest venture is far from his hometown of Queens, New York. Curtis Jackson took the time to actually go to Somalia on a WFP media junket. His stated goal? To feed a billion people (actually to provide a billion meals at 10 cents each) and to promote a new energy drink called Street King.

It is questionable how a hyped up mixture of water, caffeine and flavoring can help Somalis. Yet it could. If celebrities, media mavens and consumers actually follow up with their bold promises, any financial flow towards Somalia is helpful. The "A" list media briefly descended on Somalia or Dadaab passing for Somalia) back in August when the UN was facilitating media access. After patching in other celebs to plead for funding, they quickly moved on to bigger stories. Somalia's aid programs are chronically underfunded or unfunded. It was about that time that the rapper turned beverage mogul launched "Street King".

50 Cent, The Marketer of Social Misery

Most people know him by the name "50 Cent". A rapper known for getting shot, selling drugs and starting feuds with other music celebrities. So he visit, tweets and the resultant press releases made shockwaves (our most read scoop ever) inside America as his urban audience did a double take. Almost all of the tweets were supportive. Clearly "50" was the latest new playa in the U2, Madonna, Angeline Jolie African poverty eradication circuit.

Despite his "street" image, as far back as 2009 Jackson was No. 26 on the Forbes' 100 Richest Celebrities list. Despite his hard upbringing, the rapper has built businesses from the ground up and has chosen to use the plight of destitute as his marketing backdrop. It is up to the consumer to decide if this popular marketing concept of "socially responsibility... for profit" actually helps or exploits the people that are featured in the campaigns. We contacted Jackson to get his point of view and the actual dollars donated to Somali's but have not heard back.

The previous marketing campaign for Street King was an animated commercial in which Santa Claus was energized by the caffeine beverage. Creative marketing is what turns 2.5 ozs of water and chemicals into a $2.99 beverage, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with a percentage of the sales of anything going to help those less fortunate. But exactly what is that percentage? And what tips the scale towards exploitation or social benefit?

Street King is the brainchild of Chris Clarke of Pure Growth Partners. Clarke specifically builds brands around celebrities with the promise that "each of our companies gives back to the world's neediest with every consumer purchase."

So far according to the web site Street King has "funded 3.5 million meals" via the United Nations World Food Program. It is virtually impossible to calculate the cost of a single meal because the WFP works in tons of supplies, dozens of countries and in a number of different programs. Jackson's goal is an admirable billion meals. Pretty high minded for someone who has written and recorded songs like "I Smell Pussy", "Just Fucking Around and "Ghetto Koran". Street King's mantra (Deepak Chopra is featured on their site) of "positive energy" seems at odds with his musical career which focuses on violence, misogyny, drugs and hard living. Perhaps it is his street cred and hard upbringing that endears him to the hard places and a nation in need. Inanimate products can use sports, celebrities, sex, cartoons ,animals and even social relevance to build brand loyalty. Jackson's previous ventures are targeted to the urban audience and he uses social media to great effect. Selling an energy drink by using destitute starving Somali's as a raison d'etre is both relevant in today's meaningful brand environment and a bit ironic considering the content of Jackson's songs. Songs that encourage violence, drug use, guns misogyny and racism. Once again it is up to the consumer to decide whether Jackson and Clarke are simply marketing misery to hype energy drinks or seriously engaged in the welfare of countries like Somalia.

Curtis Jackson, The Socially Aware Entrepreneur

The rapper's two day trip generated the expected publicity for both the UN and his energy drink and consumers did engage. It is not Jackson's first foray into investing and social media.

Back in January of last year "50 Cent" made "$8.7 million" in one day by talking up a penny stock on Twitter. He bought stock at 10 cents a share and was legally able to sell at....50 cents. At the end of his hype H&H closed up 29 cents making him almost 9 million on paper at least. He once said that his hard upbringing had given him "...a fearless approach to investingm"as he said, "I've already experienced the worst possible scenario."

His first major investment was "Vitamin Water" in 2004 which was sold to Coca Cola, netting him somewhere between $100 and $400 million dollars. 50 Cent and Pure Growth Partners launched "Street King" in September of 2011 with the somewhat ambitious statement: address the world’s problems through smart and sustainable business models,” Clarke said in a statement. “With the rampant starvation in Africa and hunger afflicting children worldwide, we need socially responsible businesses that affect real change now more than ever. And Street King can set the bar for future generations to come.” A large Pepsi distributor picked up the product and a Street King clothing was announced in January.

Curtis took to Twitter on this trip, sending comments, pics and exhortations to buy his product and "like" his Street King Facebook page. Each social media gain, and each purchase would result in more meals for the needy via the UN World Food Project. It is not clear exactly how that ten cents impacts Somalia and the UN WFP has not responded to our questions.

In an CNN interview the rapper said, " It's conscious capitalism, it's creating a business model that's already giving back. Just imagine if Google's under this model. It's only ten years old. That'd solve a huge portion of problems as far as world hunger's concern." The WFP had taken an interesting stance on wealthy individuals comparing the $130 million dollar salary paid to soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo to be equal to 520 million school meals or about 25 cents a meal. In the article they bemoaned the fact that the famous soccer player could use his "fame and fortune provide a great platform for raising awareness about hunger "

Well apparently Fiddy did.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today announced they are temporarily suspending food distribution to 1.1 million Somalis suffering from the effects of drought and famine in central and southern Somalia, after being blocked from conducting humanitarian operations.

"The suspension will continue until we receive assurances from the authorities controlling those areas that distributions can take place unimpeded and reach all those in need, as previously agreed," said Patrick Vial, the head of the ICRC delegation for Somalia, in a press release.

Although the ICRC did not specifically blame the al-Shabaab insurgent group for the blockade, last month the militants seized an ICRC truck loaded with aid in Baidabo in Somalia's Bay region.

Last year, the insurgent group also banned aid agencies from working in areas under its control and temporarily detained two ICRC employees.

Landmine Kills Local NGO Official

Meanwhile an official with a local NGO working in partnership with World Food Programme to distribute aid was killed by a landmine late Thursday afternoon along with his driver, residents told Somalia Report.

Abdikarin Hashi Kadiye, the deputy chairman of Towfiiq NGO and his driver, Du’ale, died after their car hit a landmine as they were driving in Birtadheer village, 15 km south of Dhusomareb, the regional capital of Galgadud.

Unconfirmed reports indicate the men may have been ambushed and killed by gunmen.

The reason behind the attack remains unclear but residents say Ethiopian troops had passed the area few minutes before the incident and were the likely target.

“Ethiopian troops from Dhusomareb passed the area and I think the blast was aiming at them,” Basher Ali, a resident of Birtadheer village, told Somalia Report by phone.

Al-Shabaab fighters confiscated twenty trucks on Sunday, in the Jowhar district of Middle Shabelle region. They were carrying food aid intended for internally displaced people (IDPs) who are in desperate need. Al-Shabaab argues their actions are justified as the shipment was heading to regions that run by Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaah in central Somalia.

“Al-Shabaab militants blocked the road and ordered us to get out of our vehicles. Later they told us that we are their prisoners. We were taken to their base and asked questions about the shipment, but we told them as it was meant for IDPs so they freed us,” one of the truck drivers, who desired to remain nameless, told Somalia Report.

Abdullahi Ali Mahmud, a Somali government secretary for the Middle Shaballe region, confirmed to Somalia Report that the militants forcibly seized twenty trucks laden with rice that was intended for needy people in that region.

“The extremists captured at least twenty trucks today, carrying food and medical aid for those IDPs inside the Middle Shabelle region. People are dying of hunger, but the militants do not allow the suffering people to be helped,” said Mahmud.