(ERGO) – Mohamud Hassan Mohamud, 62, has been buying maize and water for the last three months to feed his herd of 80 goats as well as his family in Dalweyn, 10 km west of Elbuh location in Sanag region.
Thanks to funds being sent regularly to him by money transfer by his relatives overseas, he has not lost a single goat since he started this special feeding programme. Prior to that, he had lost no fewer than 220 goats from his herd.
“I think I am the only in this area who is saving his animals from the drought in this way,” Mohamud said. “I decided to buy food and feed them like humans when I realized how bad the drought situation was and I saw the animals all dying of thirst and lack of pasture. I buy both food and water for them. Other people who don’t receive support from their relatives abroad have lost their livestock to the drought and have already fled to the towns,” he said.
This area has not received rain for the last six months.
Mohamud buys 10 sacks of maize for $220 every three weeks from traders transporting food from Burao, Togdheer region, 290 km away. This feeds his family of eight and his livestock. He gives his goats one sack of maize every two days.
“You cannot watch as your animals sleep on empty stomachs so I give them raw maize, just the way it is.”
He noted that he also buys water for $100 from a tanker bringing water from wells in Elbuh.
“As the water is very expensive, I only give water to 40 goats a day; the remaining 40 will drink the next day,” he said.
“I do not want to lose all my animals as happened to some herders in my area. I started feeding them like this to try to save at least some of the goats from the drought, so they can reproduce again when it rains.”
Livestock is the backbone of life for the nomadic families in this region and is usually the only source of income they can depend on.
