(ERGO) – In a cluster of modern greenhouses near Mogadishu growing tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, 200 young men including Mahmoud Ilyas Hassan are earning a steady income for the first time since displacement uprooted their families from farming regions.
Mahmoud, living in Sacid displacement camp in Kahda district of the city, is the main provider for his mother and seven siblings. At Deeqsan Farm, he makes $7 a day harvesting vegetables – income that has eased the pressure his family faced to satisfy their basic needs.
“Even finding a single meal used to be difficult. Now, the farm gives us a daily income. Some days we manage three meals, and I also pay for education,” he said, having enrolled two of his younger siblings in primary school for $16 a month.
Mahmoud’s family owned a one-hectare farm near Awdhigle in Lower Shabelle, but repeated floods followed by cycles of drought destroyed their livelihood, forcing them in 2022 to move to Mogadishu seeking aid in the camps.
“The farm wanted someone who understands crops, pests, and harvest cycles,” he said. “That knowledge is what got me this job. That is why I am working here today,” he said.
Mahmoud is now the backbone of his family and aims to develop his agricultural knowledge to set up his own greenhouse farm.
Another young man, Ali Hassan Guled, 26, suffered years of severe hardship that followed the death of his father and the loss of the family’s livelihood. He also secured work at the greenhouse farm that supports his family living in Jaziira, on the outskirts of Mogadishu.
He says he no longer worries about feeding his nine siblings or caring for his mother, who has diabetes.
“The work is going well and I am happy with it. We can afford three meals a day and the household expenses. In the past, we survived on handouts and whatever people gave us, but now we have a good opportunity,” Ali said.
Ali’s job entails spraying crops and protecting them from pests. He says his family’s living conditions were extremely poor, but they are now gradually recovering.
“In the past, my mother used to do laundry and any hard work she could find so that we could survive. But now we are better off. I am the one working and I come here every morning and leave in the afternoon. I can now support my family. God willing, we hope to return to our own farm one day,” he said.
Ali is currently the only person working in the family. He explained that their decent into extreme poverty began after his father was killed in 2019, and worsened as they struggled to cope without a stable source of income in the IDP camps.
The manager of Deeqsan Farm, Mohamed Mahmoud Hirsi, said they had prioritised recruiting workers due to their situation and experience.
“Most of the youth working here lost their farms to drought,” he said. “They understand soil and crops, and they learn greenhouse techniques quickly.
“Our goal is not just production – when a young man who was struggling can now feed his family and send his siblings to school with five dollars a day, that is real success.”
The company says it is training displaced youth from nearby communities in modern irrigation methods, including drip systems that reduce water use, and farming technology that will help them in future.
