(ERGO) – A number of pastoralists in Egag and Horufadhi locations in Bohodle district have been slowly turning to farming and are finding their lives have become more stable.
Hassan Ali, 45, a herder in Egag, 50 km east of Buhodle, told Radio Ergo that they used to depend solely on livestock. Now he harvests crops worth $1,000 in a good season.
Hassan grows tomatoes, peppers, beans, and sorghum and other cash crops to sell in Buhodle market.
Farming has enabled him to pay the monthly school fees for his six children totalling $40. Two children are in secondary school and four are in primary school.
Four years ago, he planned to fence some land for grazing so that his animals could find pasture in the dry season. But later he decided to turn the field to a farm. He has no regrets.
“Our farms have become green islands in the midst of an arid land,” he said.
Water is scarce in Buhodle and its surroundings. The farmers rely on rainwater stored in traditional water reservoirs (‘berkeds’). They harvest crops in the spring and autumn.
A total of 25 pastoralist families in Egag and Horufadhi have now turned to farming in a lifestyle shift that began six years ago.
Abdinasir Hassan Awil opted out of livestock rearing and went into farming in Horufadhi, 40 km east of Buhodle. He grows pawpaw, peppers and lemons and sells in the local markets.
He said his family is now stable without having to move with the livestock from one place to another during the drought times.
Buhodle previously relied on vegetables and other crops from the southern regions of Somalia but now many people depend on the local produce.
According to Abdullahi Jama, an agriculturalist, people have realised the importance of farming to support themselves. Buhodle and its environs has good fertile land for agricultural activities, estimated to cover an area 280 km in length and 150 km wide.
