Recent returnees from the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya have been given equipment to start up in the fishing industry in Kismayo.
Thirteen fishing boats were distributed among 104 local men in a project jointly implemented by the local authority, the American Refugee Committee (ARC), and the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR.
The fishing boats will be shared by teams of eight men, who also received fishing tackle and skills training. The expectation is that they will be able to earn a living for themselves and families from fishing.
Adan Abdi Mayow is one of the new fishermen who participated in the three week training on fishing jointly conducted by the Juba fisheries ministry and ARC. Adan was recently displaced by river floods near Kismayo, after returning from an 11-year stay in the Dadaab refugee camps. He said he was hopeful the new skills would change his life for the better.
The deputy minister of fisheries in the Interim Juba Administration (IJA), Abdullahi Sheikh Shafi’I, told Radio Ergo the project would create job opportunities for repatriated refugees from Dadaab refugee camps and other low income families in the region.
The head of Lower Juba’s fishermen’s association said the project would help to encourage thousands of Somali refugees in Dadaab to return home and take advantage of the region’s resources and rebuild the fishing industry.
The project is the first of its kind in the port city of Kismayo, since the establishment of the IJA one and a half years ago.
