Hundreds of pastoralist families and their livestock in villages around Bay region are facing an extreme water shortage as the water pans, boreholes and other sources of water have dried up. Seven villages – Makuudo, Gooyaale, Bashaahin, Maara, Mugubo, Ashagow and Daboy – in Baidoa, the provincial capital, are the worst-affected areas.
The villages do not have a single water well and residents used to reply on dams and pans that are now dry. They currently have to rely on water brought from the district, which is 30 km away. However, most of the residents cannot afford to pay for the imported water as the price has sharply increased.
A resident, Fatumo Mohamed Ishaq, who treks back from Baidoa carrying water cans on her head, told Radio Ergo’s local reporter that a barrel of water now costs 120 Somali shillings (roughly $6), up from 30,000 Somali shillings before the scarcity began. They fear the water shortage will worsen and threaten living conditions for the mostly agro-pastoralist communities.
Sandher Mohamed Iftin, the district head of social affairs, said they were aware of the water problem in the villages surrounding Baidoa. But he said unfortunately the authroities could not reach the area due to security concerns. The Somali militant group al-Shabaab controls most of the roads leading to the villages. Iftin asked the regional administration to work on opening the blocked roads in the region so that the district administration and aid agencies could have access to the area
