Tuesday August 6, 2024
(ERGO) – Turning to labouring on local farms has become a lifeline for around destitute 150 pastoralists, whose livestock were wiped out by extreme drought in Bahdo-Gaabo district of central Somalia’s Mudug region.
One former pastoralist Guhad Yusuf Ahmed, 38, began working nine hours a day on a farm in May, earning $200 a month for tending and watering the crops. He heard about the job opening from his friends, who connected him to the farm owners.
“I am happy to be in my country and working on a farm. I harvest watermelons and various vegetables. It’s helped me because I’m allowed to take tomatoes and other produce home, as well as my $200 salary,” he told Radio Ergo.
He lost his entire herd of 200 goats three years ago due to drought, forcing him and his wife and five children to move from the rural areas, where they could no longer survive, to his relative’s house in Bahdo-Gaabo.
At first he could only find jobs on construction sites making $2 that paid for a meal on days when he had work. He had to rely on his relatives for basic support for his family.
However, with his newfound work on the farm, Guhad hopes to be able to move his family to a new home to unburden his relatives. He also plans to enroll his two older children in a local school.
He said he is happy to have found a stable income that enables him to be independent again.
“I take food supplies including powdered milk, cooking oil, sugar, rice, flour and even clothes on credit at the start of the month from stores. I am able to pay it all back later when I receive my $200 salary,” he said.
There are six wells on the farm where he works that he and others employed, mostly from a similar background, draw from to irrigate the crops daily.
Another former pastoralist, Yusuf Ahmed Abshir, has been working on an eight-hectare farm in the area for a year.
He received training in farm cultivation skills and pest control methods. After starting work on he was $200 he was promoted to $300 after five months. His work is in the afternoon until night.
“My work is to plant the crops, spray the pesticide and water the crops. The job has improved my life, I get a steady income now,” he said.
“I was just living one day to the next on irregular earnings. But now I get a regular income every month. I support my parents and my siblings’ education. That is how I spend my income.”
His three young children have not yet started going to school but he sends $20 a month to his siblings who attend a primary school in Hobyo.
Yusuf moved to Bahdo-gaabo in 2016 after losing his 150 goats and sheep in the drought. He fell on hard times, and his loan from food stores rose to $1,300.
His relatives informed him about the availability of farm work and he has managed to pay off $600 of his debts and is hoping to clear the rest.
Mohamed Mohamud Khayre is one of 38 farm owners who have employed workers who used to live life as pastoralists. He has 10 people working on his farm and they made their last harvest in June.
He selects workers who seem most suited for the job.
“The person must have the physical ability to do the work, so they can’t be children or elderly people. Some people come with knowledge, they know about the crops and how to control pests, you see, so they mostly are able to do the work and learn the skills,” he said.