(ERGO) – Maryan Mohamed Dubbad, 43, has become skilled in the use of a knife and has established a new source of income for her family as a butcher.
She and four other women in Washaqo IDP camp, in southern Somalia’s Bakool region, have found success in the butchery business, even though this work has always been considered s reserved for men.
Although they do not have a shop or meat storage facilities, the women slaughter animals in the camp and sell the meat locally.
“Our lives have changed, there’s been progress for us. There was drought in this area and we couldn’t even get milk, but now we’re also getting meat,” said Maryan.
Maryan and her four women business partners slaughter one or two camels a week. They complete the entire process of slaughtering, skinning, cleaning, and separating the pieces for sale.
The women started this business in mid-2022 with a $200 investment. Maryan sold the last four goats from her family’s drought-decimated herd of 180 for just $50 and pooled the funds with the other women to buy their first camel to slaughter.
Now she is earning $35-40 a week that pays for basic needs and $25 for her children’s education.
Prolonged drought drove her family out of Doriyan village in Radhure, Bakool, and they came to the camp hoping to get aid. But they received just occasional help from her husband’s relatives, spurring her to take charge of their new livelihood.
The women buy animals from villages about 60 kilometres away. Many pastoralists with livestock have moved with their livestock to Bay and Lower Shabelle regions to find water and fodder.
Sadio Mohamed Bulle, one of Maryan’s partners, said there are many challenges in getting animals from distant areas, so they negotiate to buy the animals by phone and have them delivered to the camp.
“We are women and we don’t leave this area, we look for the people selling by phone. We take whatever animal we can get, if it is a good one or a bad one, and we sell the meat at a profit,” she explained.
This mother of six lost her husband in 2016. They owned a herd of 100 goats that all died in the drought. With no aid, she was determined to provide a living for her children.
“My family has been through drought. I’m now providing for my children with this meat business. I sometimes make soup for them and also use some of the meat to cook for them,” Sadio said.
Despite their entrepreneurship, however, the women have not always received a good reception from local people as their line of work is considered to be men’s work.
“When people see us, they call us the women with long knives! But still we thank God since we have got people consuming our meat, although there are some people who still discourage us. One day we hope to open a bigger butchery,” Sadio said.
