Wednesday October 5, 2022
(ERGO) – Somali farmer Abdirahman Ali Gure managed to revive his small farm in Uun village in Puntland’s Nugal region after being given a replacement for his old generator that broke down in July.
Unable to pump water during the period without a generator, sadly his crops including watermelons, beans, maize and millet all failed. He had invested $250 in buying seeds for these cash crops, although luckily his lemon, pawpaw and guava trees were not as badly affected by the water shortage.
However, after getting a new generator on 12 August from KAALO Aid and Development organisation he is now growing beans, maize and other vegetables.
“The crops are now doing better, they were affected by the cuts in water supply due to the failed generator that pumps the water,” he said.
His family of 11 depends on this farm and during the past three months of water shortage he had to take loans to feed the family and owes more than $500 in food bills on top of the debt for seeds.
He hopes for a good harvest and greater income so he can repay the debts and boost his family.
“We are now in the dry season. The people have many needs in this difficult time. The drought has affected the pastoralist people and the farmers equally,” said Abdirahman. “My concerns now however are that the well might dry out if the drought persists.”
Most of the famers in Uun village, 75 kilometres from Garowe, depend on small hand-dug wells, which need pumps to extract the water.
Deeq Ali Said, another local farmer, struggled for eight years sharing his neighbour’s generator once or twice a week. His yield was low but having now been given his own generator he is hopeful of better production.
“You can think about the difference between getting a pump after five or six days and having one that’s always there. We are independent now,” said Deeq.
He grows watermelons, beans and millet and is also trying to introduce new vegetables on his farm. Due to lack of fodder he has to buy grain for his six camels and eight cows herded in the rural areas of Uun.
“Our camels eat 30 sacks of maize although we are getting no benefits from them. I now have camels, cows, a farm and people to take care of, and you can see how times are getting difficult. We don’t have money,” he complained to Radio Ergo.
The head of drought resilience at KAALO, Mohamud Aydarus Mohamud, said they assessed farmers’ needs through consultations and established that being able to access water reliably with generators was critical. They worked with the ministry of agriculture to deliver 40 generators. Each one costs about $450.
In 2020 KAALO set up a reservoir in Aneyska area in Nugal to meet the water needs of local families although there has not been enough rain water to fill up the reservoir.