As Floods and Drought Threaten Somalia's Livestock, Women Become Khat Traders

"We have issues with the drought, which happens every year because of delayed rains or rains that did not come at all. On top of that, we’re facing the consequences or effects of climate change. We’re seeing more floods in Somalia that we have not seen before. Devastating and destructive floods swept through my hometown of Qardho a few days ago," Sahra Ahmed Koshin, a Somali activist who has been following the nation’s humanitarian crisis closely, told Sputnik.

"For example, two years ago, it rained heavily and many lives were lost. We lost livestock, resources, businesses and infrastructure. And in those two years, nothing much was really done to prevent similar losses. In my opinion, there hasn’t been any major flood preparedness activities or mechanisms to be put in place to prevent any potential flash floods," she said.

"Imagine, this time around, it didn’t rain in Qardho. The flash flood came as a result of rain in nearby villages. Qardho has two major streams running through both sides of the town. If you look at the satellite image of the town, Qardho lies between two streams of water. And because Qardho is located below sea level, the entire town could be easily swallowed by water during flash floods," she said.

"Somalia is facing a number of challenges all at the same time. It’s a complex crisis. We’ve also been dealing with ongoing inflation. The hunger situation and the drought situation made it more disastrous for families and communities that had already been struggling with the inflation. The war in Ukraine has somehow affected food prices, food availability and food security in Somalia because some of the staple food, like wheat, was imported from that country," she said.

"Famine could break out in a matter of weeks in some regions if livestock and crops continue to die and soaring prices continue to destroy purchasing power. The last famine declared in Somalia, in 2011, killed a quarter of a million people," the World Food Program warned in its report on the emergency situation in Somalia.

"The heart of the Somali economy is livestock. Almost 70% of Somalis are living a nomadic lifestyle. Their whole income and their whole livelihood are based on livestock, such as goats and sheep. When the drought happens, it affects not only people but also the livestock, which were killed in the hundreds of thousands. Somalia exports livestock to countries like Saudi Arabia and many other countries in the Gulf. When Somalia wants to export the livestock, they need to send healthy and nice-looking animals. They can’t send sick animals. This has also impacted our economy greatly," she said.

"The government directive suspended Telegram, which is a cloud-based encrypted instant messaging platform used by many Somalis for sharing information. The complete shutdown of Telegram in the country not only impacts many ordinary Somalis but puts into question the purpose of this restriction," Mumin said.

"For example, the al-Shabaab controls the rural areas in Somalia. Sometimes, they ambush the Somali military forces that were patrolling the outskirts of Mogadishu or other frontlines. But if you try to write a report by saying that the al-Shabaab fighters ambushed the government forces and killed [some soldiers], the government won’t allow you to do this. Or when the government forces and the al-Shabaab fight in the rural areas, you should only say what the government forces did to the al-Shabaab militants, but they can never say anything about what the al-Shabaab did to the government forces," Bulbul said.

"As a journalist in Somalia, we’re at risk. I can describe it as life and death. That’s because the al-Shabaab has released warnings against Somali journalists saying: 'if you try to side with the government, you’ll be targeted.’ And the government is saying: 'if you try to cooperate with the Al-Shabaab, you’ll be targeted.’ We don’t know what to do," he said.

"The war against the al-Shabaab has been ongoing for the last 15 years. Every government pledged to eradicated them within 2-3 years. The former government said they would eradicate the al-Shabaab within two years, when they were campaigning. And they did not even capture a part of the areas under control of the al-Shabaab. This government declared war against the al-Shabaab, but did not even mention the exact time when it planned to eradicate them," he said.

"Traditionally, women were staying at home and men were the ones who were providing food and support to the family. But that’s not the case anymore. There’re more families that are not so-called women-led household, where the woman is now the breadwinner. The husband is there, but he doesn’t have any significant role other than the symbolic leader," she said.

"You can read about the khat trade in Somalia. Khat is a drug stimulant, which is eaten in East Africa. Women in Somalia have gone into the business of the khat trade, which was predominately dominated by men. All of these changes that are happening in the society have led to gender transformations," she said.