(ERGO) – The sharp descent into hunger faced by Hussein Idris Nunow’s family of seven since he lost his job digging sand in Baidoa bears witness to the fragile livelihoods of displaced people living in the crowded camps.
Hussein says has been struggling to find even one meal a day since early April, when the sand pits where he earned a living were flooded by heavy rain and work came to a halt.
Around 300 displaced men relied on income from digging and hauling sand in the pits on the outskirts of Baidoa that supply construction sites in the southern Somali city.
“We barely manage to cook once a day, and sometimes we don’t even get that. Before, we used to cook three meals a day and I used to provide milk and other necessities for my young children,” he said.
His daily work as the family’s sole provider used to give him a steady $4 to $5. Now they are just living off minimal assistance they receive from relatives in Mogadishu.
The cost of living in Bulo-Gadisow IDP camp, where they live in Baidoa, is high. A jerrycan of water sells for 4,000 Somali shillings ($4) that they can’t afford, so Hussein and his wife beg for one 20-litre jerrycan a day from a privately owned well an hour’s walk away. It’s barely enough for their daily needs.
The lack of shelter has worsened their living conditions. Heavy rains on 12 May destroyed their makeshift hut in the camp, forcing them to take shelter at a neighbour’s house at night and under trees during the day.
Their youngest one-year-old child is not doing well under such conditions and they are worried.
“Our lives are in danger. Now we don’t have work, and there is no other way for us to escape or earn other income. We have lost everything,” Hussein told Radio Ergo.
The family came to the displacement camps at the end of 2023 from Oflow, 70 kilometres south of the city, after two consecutive dry seasons ruined all the vegetables and other food crops they had planted on their farm. He lost his last savings of $400.
After failing to pay the $10 fees, two of his children were expelled from Koranic school in May. Despite hunting for manual labour jobs, he always returns home empty-handed.
Another out-of-income sand pit worker, Abdikarim Yunis Macalin, said his family of nine had also been reduced to one meal a day – a small amount of cooked food shared by neighbours at night.
“Before, our life was very good, and we used to get good work, but now our situation is very difficult. We don’t have work. We just stay at home. When I was working, I earned five dollars, sometimes four and a half a day, even sometimes six dollars that was enough for my family’s needs,” he said.
Water scarcity means the entire family gets only one jerrycan of water a day that they plead for from neighbours.
Abdikarim said heavy rains with strong winds in May destroyed their two huts, leaving them without anywhere to live and dependent on relatives in another camp, Fanole camp.
“We can’t find a good place to sleep. Our children have no shelter. Sometimes we ask our neighbours to let us share their shelter when it rains so our children won’t get cold. Our situation is very bad,” Abdikarim complained.
Six of his children were expelled from school on 20 May as the $15 monthly fees were unpaid.
Abdikarim, 42, said he relied on sand-digging work for the two years they have been in the camps. He regrets not saving anything during that time. His family was displaced in 2023 from Gof-gadud Shabelow near Baidoa, after drought ruined their three-hectare farm.
Meanwhile, Mahamud Idris Mahamud’s wife and newborn baby delivered in early June are not getting enough nutrition.
“The biggest worry I have is my wife, who just gave birth and has no food. There is nothing worse than that. I am afraid that she and the child might die. It is a heavy burden on me. I would like to be supported in this matter,” he told Radio Ergo.
Mahamud has no skills and relied solely on sand-digging. He’s been looking for odd jobs but can’t find any.
He has debts to a shop where he bought supplies during Eid al-Adha and to the Koranic school where three of his seven children study.
“I owe $200 for things I bought for the children and some to the Koranic school. It’s a heavy burden. I pray to God to open the door of sustenance so I can get out of this!” he appealed.
Mahamud’s family, who are experiencing their first time in displacement, were forced to move in 2024 from their home in Tiyeglow, Bakool region, after prolonged drought and Al-Shabaab’s blockade destroyed their farming livelihood.
