Dejected and broke, Abdiweli Yussuf Haji has returned to Biyo Adde village, 40 km east of Eyl in the drought-hit coastal region of Puntland, with fewer animals than he departed with two months ago. He knows he has dwindling chances of keeping the rest of his herd alive let alone well.

Abdiweli left with his family of six and his livestock in December 2021 after hearing that there was pasture in Iskushuban, a small town in Bari region, which had received some rainfall in the Deyr season. However, large numbers of pastoralists converged there with their livestock and the pasture that had grown in the grazing area was depleted rapidly.

They left Iskushuban after the pasture got depleted and went southwest to Rako, where the same thing happened again. The purpose of migrating was to find fodder and water so there seemed no more options left other than to go back home.

“We have now returned to our village, which is still struggling with the drought. I had to hire a vehicle to transport my family and the livestock costing $1,900,” he complained.

In Biyo-Adde, Abdiweli said he has been going every day to the livestock market with 10 goats to sell but cannot find any buyers as the goats are so weak and thin.

When he migrated to Iskushuban at the end of last year, he had 200 goats and 40 camels. But due to deaths along the way he returned with 150 goats and 35 camels.

Most of the 300 people who left Biyo Adde at the same time as him have also come back to the village, having failed to find anywhere else to go.

“There is a difficult situation that needs to be addressed here! We request the government to aid us through this. We have no food and our livestock are not selling in the market,” he said.

Another pastoralist Mohamed Abdi migrated with his family of eight to Rako Raaxo, 90 km east of Qardho town in Bari region. He returned to Godbo village in Eyl in January after the pasture ran out. He lost 70 of his 300 goats on the way in an accident, when an upper deck rigged up in the vehicle to separate the goats collapsed and killing many animals in the truck.

“We used two vehicles to reach our destination. The first vehicle that charged $600 broke down midway, so we were forced to hire another vehicle for $200. We left our village because of the drought and we were hoping to save our livestock,” he said.

Mohamed told Radio Ergo that they are now struggling to make ends meet as the local shops have banned them from taking loans. They have neither food nor water.

The director of Puntland’s Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency (HADMA), Abdullahi Hashi, said the biggest problem facing the pastoralists is lack of water. He said some of the wells in the area had broken down, while the water reservoirs the pastoralists depended on have all dried up.

He said the number of families in need of urgent aid has increased from an estimated 188,000 families in January to 220,945 families in February. These people need food, water, and access to healthcare.

The HADMA director said the impact of the drought has been exacerbated by escalating prices, locust invasions, and also COVID19 restrictions.

Source: Radio Ergo