‘Drought is the enemy’: The communities fighting hunger in Somaliland 

AINABO, Somaliland — At 10 a.m., it is already hot on Keyse Aden Mohamed’s family farm in Wadamogo village, Ainabo district, northern Somaliland. It is late July, and with the long rains already gone, a recently dried-up water pan — a small reservoir that collects surface runoff water — sits empty in the middle of the farm. 

Acacia trees and a dozen other tropical indigenous trees dot the expansive farmland. It would pass for a lush rangeland if not for the uniformity of the pale green local gargaro grass that is grown and used as fodder — nutrient-rich hay for animals to eat in addition to grazing. Three men in a crouched position, sickle in hand, grab tufts of grass, cut away, stack it on a pile, take two shuffling steps, and repeat. Huge mounds of cut grass are heaped near the exit of the farm, evidence of the men’s labor. 

In another part of the village, Ugaaso Bulale Warsame, a bespectacled 73-year-old woman, sits on the slab of a water tank outside a hall housing a fodder hub. Inside, a middle-aged man in a yellow vest sings as he feeds the grass into a rumbling machine. A heap of chopped fodder lies at his side and more is already stuffed in bags in storage. 

Closing long distances 

“When there is no drought, we benefit from our livestock. When there is drought, they benefit from us,” she said. As recently as last year, Warsame bought fodder from nearly 500 kilometers (310 miles) away in Wajaale, on the border of Somaliland and Ethiopia, spending $600 to buy and transport one truck load of unprocessed fodder, including maize and sorghum stalks. 

This would only last her a month. When her savings were depleted, she would sell property such as land, or pool resources with other villagers to buy it. 

When it does rain and she has adequate fodder for her livestock, Warsame sells milk to traders who in turn sell in Burao town, which is 120 kilometers away. She can sell 20 pints per day for $1 each. “With the sale of milk, I can recoup what I invested in fodder,” she said, but this takes a long time — and her ability to recover has decreased.

Mohamed, a neighbor of Warsame’s, is a university student at Togdheer University in Burao. He recalls the 2016 drought that wiped out 270 of his family’s sheep and goats, leaving them with only 30, and with just five cattle out of the previous 17. Like many families, Mohamed’s family depends on the sale of their livestock and milk to pay for their school fees, health care, and essential foods such as vegetables, cooking oil, and sugar. 

With livestock weak from little or no pasture, his family usually is able to receive food on credit from the shops in Wadamogo. “The shopkeeper can only give you credit when he knows that you have livestock, which you will sell when Hajj or the rain comes,” he said. 

Somaliland is a huge exporter of livestock to the Middle East, and livestock accounts for more than 60% of its gross domestic product. This past Hajj season, with the resumption of the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca after three years of COVID-19 restrictions, meant business for livestock farmers in Somaliland. Thousands of camels, cattle, sheep, and goats were sold to traders who came to Wadamogo village, many of which were exported to the Middle East. One trader bought 10,000 sheep and goats. However, Mohamed sold only three rams at a price of $100 each.

During leaner times, people depend on aid for food. The World Food Programme is one of the organizations providing assistance in Wadamogo and other areas in the Sool, Sanaag, and Sahil regions. 

In Erigavo district in Sanaag, the mayor, Ismail Haji, told Devex that the last drought had killed half the livestock, “What helped our people were cash transfers from organizations like WFP, the FAO, and the water trucking that we did.” 

Securing nutrition

For Warsame, the project means better food security for her family. “Through the project we have food for our livestock, and when our livestock have food, our lives are better,” she said. In addition to fodder seeds, they were also given vegetable seeds, including cabbage, carrot, tomatoes, spinach, hot and sweet pepper, and watermelon, to help improve nutrition. 

Mohamed estimates that the fodder he is harvesting is enough for his three cattle and 100 sheep and goats for over one year. He will also save money that he would have had to use to buy fodder during the drought — and he might even sell some.

Warsame and Mohamed feel that what is still missing is access to water. Water access is very poor in the region and there are few projects, if any, with the purpose of improving it. 

There are very few boreholes and many depend on water collected during the rainy seasons. “If we had enough water, I would even start zero-grazing [where cattle only eats cut grass rather than graze] my livestock now that I have the fodder,” she said.

However, going forward, both Warsame and Mohamed have high hopes for better recovery and multiplication of their livestock and higher returns. With enough fodder to last her 12 months, Warsame is confident about the future. “My cattle are in the late stages of pregnancy and will soon give birth. In two months, I will have milk,” she said.