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Studies were conducted in the Bay Region of Somalia to determine the incidence of charcoal rot in sorghum incited by Macrophomina phaseolina and the soil population of M. phaseolina in sorghum fields and areas of native vegetation. Charcoal rot was detected in 34 of 40 sorghum fields. Incidence (percent sorghum hills with diseased plants) in the four regional districts was 21, 70, 20 and 35% (mean of 15 hills/field and 10 fields/district) for Baidoa, Burhakaba, Dinsoore and Quansadhere, respectively. Soil collected from the 40 sorghum fields and from 40 native vegetation sites (10 in each district) all contained M. phaseolina. Mean soil populations for sorghum fields and native vegetation sites were 25.2 and 2.5 microsclerotia g-1 soil, respectively. Soil populations of M. phaseolina in sorghum fields were significantly (p = 0.05) different from populations in native vegetation sites and ranged from 7 to 107 and 0.1 to 14.0 microsclerotia g-1 soil, respectively. Incidence of charcoal rot in sorghum was positively correlated with soil populations of M. phaseolina (r = 0.53, p = 0.0 1). Correlation between ratoon failure and disease incidence was also highly significant (r = 0.48, p = 0.01). Correlation between ratoon failure and soil population of M. phaseolina was not significant (r = 0. 17, p = 0.10). Only one out of 30 seed lots of sorghum grown in the Bay Region contained seed infected with M. phaseolina.