(ERGO) – Nur Mukhtar Mohamed, 46, moved his family of 10 to the humble house he bought after harvesting beans, pepper, onions, and sesame from his one-hectare farm in Lower Juba region’s Goobweyn in June.
He spent a third of his $3,000 income to purchase the home made of wood, mud, and iron sheets on 3 October. His farm had failed for the past three years and they had been living with relatives for four years.
“I was not independent at all, but now I can make decisions for my family. I can get food and we can eat three meals, previously we didn’t get three meals a day,” he said.
Nur was one of 100 members of Jubba Farmers’ Cooperative given generators and fuel to last four months and seeds from local NGO, Wajir South Development Association (WASDA). Nur and 10 other farmers shared two generators and cooperated on the farming processes, selling their produce at almost the same prices in Kismayo market, 15 kilometres south.
“The price of a sack of maize is $35. A kilo of peppers is 15,000 (shillings), while chillies also sell at the same rate. We have got a good income and some people have bought livestock, while others have constructed houses,” said Nur.
They started the farming process just as water was starting to flow with water once again, which helped his farm to grow without smoothly.
He paid off his debts of $750 that and he kept the remaining money for this family needs, although he also kept 150kgs of grains with longer shelf life including beans and maize.
Among the 30 women in the cooperative is 38-year-old Lul Mohamed Sabriye. She harvested $2,000 worth of fresh produce. In September, she took 12 kgs of maize, 11 sacks of beans, ands 600 kgs of tomatoes and watermelons to sell.
“There were about 1,500 watermelons and we sold the biggest one for 20,000 shillings! We supply stores, you know, we don’t sell them in stalls,” said Lul.
She was happy to be able to cover the food needs of her family of nine and also pay $80 school fees for her five children at primary and secondary schools in Kismayo.
For the past two years her brother had paid for her children’s education and supported them with one meal a day.
“In the morning we have our maize, and at night we have beans. We have some tomatoes and
we also buy rice. Our financial situation has changed dramatically,” she said.
Lul, who has been a farmer for 10 years, had not been able to grow anything since 2020 due to drought and destitution. She shares generators with a group of women in the cooperative.
“We have benefited from the farms. We have got fuel, seeds, and our irrigation canals have been dug,” she said.
She and her fellow women farms plans to reinvest into their farms and prepare for the upcoming deyr rainy season.
WASDA partnered with the Goobweyn authority to select the farms to benefit from this project. According to Omar Abdullahi Mohamed, the commissioner of Goobweyn, they targeted farmers who dropped out of production due to financial constraints.
“We chose families with farms near the river who could not buy generators. These families have children although they don’t have camels, cows, goats or chickens as alternative sources of income,” he explained.
He added that the cooperative had given the farmers both profits and hope to become independent again.
