Debt collectors chase Somali pastoralists for cash borrowed to survive the drought

Wednesday June 26, 2019

Hassan Aabi is carrying the weight of a huge burden on his shoulders as he counts off the days before the debt collectors come for him again.

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With his pitifully depleted herd of 23 feeble goats, Hassan is struggling to support his three wives and 23 children in Benyo-ad village, 25 km south of Guriel in Galgadud.

Earlier this month, his creditors had him arrested and they are threatening to do so again if they don’t get paid.

  “In the last Jilal [long dry season], I lost 300 goats and the remaining ones are still very weak. Circumstances forced me to take this huge debt,” explained 48-year-old Hassan, who owes $1,300.

He was detained in Guriel police station.

 “I was released on bond with the help of relatives and given a three-month ultimatum to clear the debt,” Hassan told Radio Ergo.

Borrowing money from people he knew was the only way to survive during the harsh drought, especially with three households to support. But his source of income, his livestock, was decimated and he is trapped in a vicious cycle. Recovery seems to be an illusion.

“My fellow pastoralists would have helped me, but we are all in the same situation. Though it has rained, the livestock are still weak,” said Hassan.

Livestock herders hit by the drought are in similar position all over Somalia. They borrowed from friends and relatives to keep going.

Over 1,000 km to the south in Bala’d, Middle Shabelle, single mother Faduma Ahmed Nur lost 20 of her 37 cattle in 2016, leaving her desperate.

Faduma borrowed So sh 35,000,000 ($1,500) from a neighbour to buy fodder for her livestock during the drought.

“During that time, life was miserable, and we had no alternative but to borrow money hoping that we would be able to repay during the season,” said Faduma.

Faduma has been arrested three times for failure to repay her debts. But just like Hassan, she cannot earn enough to get back on her feet.

“I am still unable to settle the debt because I get little milk from only three cows, which I sell to feed my children,” said Faduma, who has six children.

Amina Hussein Suleiman, a former trader in Gorofley village, 40 km East of Hudun in Sool region, represents the other side of the coin.

Amina, a mother of five, had to close her small shop after going bankrupt.

She has given out loans totaling $5,000 to drought-hit pastoralists living in her village.

“I lent them all I had hoping that they would pay me back in the rainy season but today we are all in the same situation and that has forced me to stop my business,” she said.

Omar Jam’a Farah, who runs a local NGO, Takula Somaliland Communities, called for substantial help to enable to the pastoralists to recover from their losses.

“People have few livestock now and they do not get any food from them so in order to stand on their feet in the coming years, they need help in getting food,” he said.

Abdi Hussein Roble, the head of the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU), warns that recovery from the effects of the drought in Somalia will take a long time.

Somaliland, Puntland, central regions, and Bay and Bakol regions have been worst affected. 

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