The work carrying heavy goods for traders and customers offers small daily earnings that are often the only available source of income in the city’s low-income settlements.

Fadumo Mohamed Ali supports a family of 10 through porter work she began in December 2025, earning between $4 and $5 a day.

“I am a mother trying to support my children, struggling every day. We get to cook meals at home, but my income is not much. People pay me small amounts like $0.25, $0.50, or $1, and I collect my income to buy rice, oil, and meat for my children. I feed them regularly. I do not beg from anyone, my children live from my sweat,” Fadumo told Radio Ergo.

Her elderly husband has long been bedridden due to diabetes, leaving her as the sole provider. Part of her earnings goes toward buying his medication.

“I used to walk around the city looking for small laundry jobs or collecting plastics to sell, but I earned very little. Now, sometimes people even give more than the agreed amount, and that helps me manage many needs,” she said.

She has built a small network of customers and sometimes delivers goods beyond the market, increasing her earnings.

Fadumo and her family settled in Garas-Baley in 2023 after losing their farm near Marka, Lower Shabelle region, due to poor harvests. Like many residents they lack access to piped water and must buy it from a private well about 20 minutes away.

“One jerrycan costs 1,000 Somali shillings. We are a large family, so we need a lot of water. When washing clothes, we may use up to eight jerrycans. If I don’t have money, I take it on credit and repay it after I work,” she said,

Despite the challenges, she has managed to pay $12 a month for four of her children studying in Koranic school.

Raho Hassan Mohamed also reports progress in meeting her family’s basic needs since January as a porter earning $3.5 to $4 a day. She supports a household of 11 people.

“With what I earn, I manage. I buy rice for the children. If I cannot afford meat, I cook it with tomatoes or other substitutes. That is how we survive. We cook twice a day, and the leftovers from the evening are eaten in the morning. Being able to cook for my children without begging from others means a lot to me,” she said.

Raho‘s husband, a former farmer, has been unable to find work since they arrived in Mogadishu, where he failed to find portering jobs himself.

Her income allows her to buy water regularly and support her children’s education.

“We were struggling, but now we are recovering. A woman helped me find this work after seeing our situation. What I earn cannot be saved, but it helps me take care of the children. Three of them are now in school, and I pay $6 a month,” Raho told Radio Ergo.

The family live in a makeshift shelter in a displacement camp in Garas-Baley, where they settled after fleeing conflict in Qoryoley district in Lower Shabelle late last year.

Barwaqo Osman Mohamed, another porter, says the work has enabled her to provide consistent support for her six children.

“When I am well and can find porter work, I can provide. Neighbours used to collect food for us but now I have learned the work and support my children. When I came from the rural area, someone showed me where to find work in Bakara market, where. I carry loads of up to 50 kilograms, like crates of tomatoes, and deliver them to different places,” she said.

Barwaqo, 37, supplements her income with laundry jobs for $4, making her weekly income total a reasonable $20-25. Her family was displaced from rural Afgoye in November 2025 due to a combination of drought and conflict.

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Abdullahi Yasin Warsame, 42, told Radio Ergo that his household of 13 people relied entirely on food distributions and a small cash stipend that suddenly stopped in February.

He and his family were removed from the eligibility list after being classified by the authorities as having Kenyan citizenship.

Abdullahi denies this, saying neither he, his wife, nor his mother are Kenyan citizens, and that his children are all still minors. He said he has not received a clear explanation, despite submitting many complaints to authorities and aid agency offices.

“The situation has changed a lot. When you lose what you had, you realise what it meant to you. We had no other source of income. We depended on the aid card. When it was taken away and we didn’t know why, it caused us a lot of distress,” he said.

His family includes 10 children under the age of 18, and his elderly disabled mother, who has diabetes and high blood pressure. They used to receive 110 kilograms of rice, 40 kilograms of beans, 15 litres of cooking oil, as well as $43 in cash every two months that kept them going.

He said his family had been assessed last year and classified as being vulnerable and in need of continued assistance. Now, he says, the family survives largely on help from neighbours, who themselves have limited means.

Abdullahi works as a night guard, earning about $60 a month. He says the income is too little to cover food, basic needs, and the fees for five of his children who were attending Koranic school costing $35 a month.

He has repeatedly visited aid agency offices seeking answers – but often can’t even gain access to the guarded compounds.

“We have gone back again and again to the offices, but even getting through the doors has become difficult. We complain about lack of food, but we are told the [aid distribution] card has been removed from the system, and we do not know the reason,” he told Radio Ergo.

Abdullahi fled conflict in 1994 in rural Lower Juba region in southern Somalia, where his family had depended on livestock that they have lost.

Kenya’s Department of Refugee Services (DRS) removed about 39,000 people from entitlement to assistance in February, following a verification exercise. Full details of those removed and the reasons were not available for this report.

Camp leaders say some of those removed were reclassified by DRS as Kenyan citizens. Many of those affected had lived in the camps for more than 30 years.

Abshiro Adan Ibrahim, 50, applied for citizenship and became a Kenyan citizen in 2025 after living in the Dadaab refugee camps for 32 years. She thought this would open better opportunities for her.

She continued receiving 100 kilograms of food, 16 litres of cooking oil, and $30 in bi-monthly cash support after her citizenship was granted. But in February, her family of eight was on the DRS list of those cut off from assistance.

“Our overall situation is very bad. You can imagine a family of eight losing their food support. Neighbours who receive food bring us some, and others bring oil. Sometimes women in the neighbourhood collect about 15 kilos of rice and oil for us,” she said.

Abshiro had hoped that acquiring citizenship would help her find work to support her family, as the aid they received was not enough. In July 2025, she travelled to Nairobi in search of employment but returned after a month without success.

She now regrets the decision, saying it has left her family without the support they depended on.

“If I had known that taking [Kenyan] citizenship would lead to this, I would not have done it. I took that step for my five children who depend on me. They have no father and no support. We cannot manage without refugee assistance,” she told Radio Ergo.

Abshiro fled insecurity in 1992 in Sanguuni near Kismayo, where her family had relied on farming four hectares of land.

Camp leaders say the impact of refugees being denied aid is severe. The chairman of Dadaab’s Hagadera camp, Khalif Dhuubow Jelle, said camp leaders and refugee committees had repeatedly raised their concerns with relevant authorities but to no effect.

“These people are very vulnerable. Life in the camps depends on food and security. If food is removed, there is a serious problem. People are confused and suffering. There is hunger, and if assessments are carried out, it will be clear that many are facing it,” Khalif stated.

Refugees in Dadaab currently receive limited water, healthcare, and education services, but continuing food and cash assistance remain central to their survival.

Over the past three years, there has been an incremental reduction in services, food rations and cash support affecting the refugee population in Dadaab. This is attributed to changes in policy around the existence of the camps, as well as to funding cuts.

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The families fled from Kurji, Kuusow, Duugsoy, Darab-Ajuuso, Moora-Qasaale and Buulo-Bilaan villages near Bardale in March, when fighting spread through their areas. Many say their crops, houses, and food reserves were deliberately burned, destroying their only means of survival.

Qasido Nur Hassan is among those now struggling in Kuusow camp on the outskirts of Baidoa, where she cannot provide adequate food, water, and shelter for her nine children.

She told Radio Ergo that since arriving, they have received little assistance. She depends on receiving small portions of cooked food from any other families that manage to light a cooking fire.

“We are facing the worst situation. We have no proper tents, no blankets. Everything we owned was burned. Before the conflict, life was better. We survived on what we harvested and stored from our farm,” Qasido said.

They are staying out in the open at a time when seasonal rains have started in the region. Qasido said three of her children have developed fever, but she had no access to medical care nor money to seek treatment.

She believes the illnesses are linked to exposure and mosquitoes, as they have no protection at night. Health services nearby require payment that she cannot afford.

Before the conflict, Qasido relied on a three-hectare farm in Kurji, along with three food storage facilities – all of them burnt down.

The fighting erupted just as she had planted crops after several years of poor rainfall. The return of rain had given her hope for a good harvest, but then she was forced to flee.

“My biggest worry is the farm. The crops are still there in the open with no fencing, and the conflict is ongoing. I have no way to go back or protect it. My children depended on that farm. I keep asking myself how we will survive now,” she said.

She had planted a mix of vegetables and staple crops and expected to earn nearly $3,000 at harvest. Instead, she is left with debts of $600 incurred during planting, plus $1,200 she owes local traders for food taken on credit over the past two years.

Qasido, who is raising her children alone after separation from her husband, said the conflict had compounded hardships already caused by repeated drought. She sees no clear way out of her current situation.

Others in the camp are facing similar conditions, like Hawo Ali Adan, a 43-year-old mother of 12, who walked about 40 kilometres from Kuusow to reach the camp in March.

For the first time in her life, she has been forced to beg to feed her children.

“When the fighting started, we lost everything. Now we cook only what we receive from others, and it is never enough. Life here is very difficult,” she said.

Her home, belongings, and four-hectare farm were all burned during the conflict. In the camp, the borehole located three kilometres away sells one jerrycan for 5,000 Somali shillings, forcing her to beg others who can afford the water. She usually gets about 10 litres for her large family.

“The biggest problems are water and food. We cannot live without them. We also need shelter and containers to carry water. I have nothing left. Even the clothes I wore were burned,” she said.

She had spent $1,500 on planting crops and expected to earn at least $3,000 if rains were good. Even if it became sage to return, rebuilding their farm would require labour and resources, especially as her husband is elderly and unable to work.

A committee set up by the Bardale district administration has recorded more than 2,500 families displaced by the conflict so far. The chairman of the committee, Mohamed Malin Mintan, said the clashes had continued for two months, spreading to more areas and forcing more families to flee.

He warned that conditions in the camps were deteriorating, with no aid reaching those affected, who had already been diminished by the last two years of poor rainfall.

“The situation is getting worse. People have lost everything and have not received any aid so far, based on what we have seen during our assessments,” he said.

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The 60 or so displaced women were moved from the tarmac roadside to a newly built market further inside the settlement. Although the relocation was intended to improve safety, many women say it had the adverse effect of diminishing their income.

Adey Nasib Abdi, a mother of seven, now spends her nights trying to sell vegetables from her small table but often returns home without earning enough to feed her children. Since the relocation at the end of March, she says her income has dropped sharply.

“The market is crowded with people like us bringing vegetables. Customers are used to buying from the roadside. Where we are inside the market, even cars cannot reach it. A customer with money will not come all the way in to find you. People buy outside and leave,” she told Radio Ergo.

Adey says that in the past three weeks, 500 bananas and three jerrycans of tomatoes went bad because she hadn’t had enough customers at her stall. She owes $75 to farmers who supplied her with fresh produce.

The $7 to $10 a day that she earned by the roadside was enough to support her household. Sometimes in the new market she makes as little as half a dollar.

“The vegetables have gone bad. We are in a lot of debt. Someone may bring 500 bananas and sell only 10, and the rest are left to rot. Fresh vegetables can’t last beyond a day. We have suffered heavy losses,” she complained.

“I take food on credit for the children now. People in town know me as the woman who sells vegetables. I try to call those who owe me money to pay me. I try to manage for two days, but I am no longer anywhere near how I used to be.”

Adey started her business 18 months ago with $20 she earned from construction work and built it into a reliable source of income before the move disrupted her progress. But she acknowledges that working at the roadside had its dangers.

“We were in danger there. We sold right next to the road where vehicles pass. It was extremely hot. We used to get very hot and so did the water we carried with us. My skin even changed. It was a dangerous place. You could not keep children there. We suffered a lot,” she said.

However, she believes the new market will only work if customers are brought closer or if more traders are relocated together to attract business.

Like many others in the settlement, Adey was displaced in 2022 from rural Afmadow after drought wiped out 250 goats her family depended on.

Farhia Abdullahi Mohamed, another trader in the same area, also says she is facing losses as her customers were those passing by along the road.

“We are facing a lack of customers. No one is buying from us. What we bring gets spoiled. This morning I argued with farmers as I have nothing to pay them. I have suffered major losses. The watermelons are spoiled, bananas are spoiled, lemons spoiled, peppers spoiled,” she said in frustration.

She owes $46 in debt for produce she took on credit. Creditors recently threatened legal action when she failed to repay the debt, only backing off after neighbours intervened.

Farhia, a single mother of eight, was displaced by floods in late 2023 that destroyed her seven-hectare farm near Jamame. She has withdrawn five of her children from school because she can no longer afford the $15 monthly fees.

The market where the women now operate was built by Jubbaland’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing, with support from the local organisation SEA and funding from GIZ.

Local authorities say the relocation was necessary due to safety concerns, as traders had been operating along a busy road where speeding vehicles posed risks.

The chairman of Istanbul, Jama Kayd Halane, said the new market includes 48 tables, 12 stalls, and designated areas for food vendors.

“This is a new place and people have only recently moved in. It takes time for a place to become known. People have left a place they were used to and come to a new one, so there can be delays. Before, they were in the sun along the roadside. Now they are in a shaded and more suitable environment,” he said.

He added that the number of traders exceeded the current capacity in the new market and called for expansion with support from authorities and donors.

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Mohamed Ali Farah, a shop owner in Adado in Galgadud region, told Radio Ergo that he has credit accounts with more than 90 pastoralist families, who have all increasingly been relying on his store for food on credit.

Most have not made any repayments for the past 20 months.

“Credit was always part of our business, and people used to repay. But after several failed rainy seasons, nothing has been returned. Our capital has been tied up, and our business has started to decline. To survive, we had to stop giving credit,” Mohamed said.

He calculates being owed more than $5,000 in total that he is unlikely to recover, as many of his customers have lost their livestock and livelihoods to drought and have been totally impoverished.

His difficult decision to stop extending credit was necessary to prevent his business from collapse – and many other shopkeepers in the area have had to do the same.

However, Halima Farah Barre, who lives in the rural area of Hog-dugaag, has been unable to feed her family of 10 since the shop she relied on closed her credit account in early March.

“Our situation is very difficult,” she said. “We depend on whatever small help we can get from relatives. Sometimes we cook a little, sometimes nothing at all. Before we were getting food on credit, but now every shop has closed its account to us. The drought took our goats, and we have nothing left to sell,” Halima said.

Her family lost 80 goats over the past year due to drought and disease, leaving them with 20 animals that are too weak to provide any income.

Halima estimates that she owes around $3,000 accumulated over several years that she has no means to repay.

“I no longer even keep the credit record, but the debt remains,” she said. “People keep calling me, asking for their money. Sometimes I switch off my phone because I can’t answer them. If the rains come and the animals recover, maybe I can repay, but right now I have nothing.”

Water shortages have added to their hardship. There are no functional water sources in her area, and a barrel of water costs around $5. They rely on small contributions from relatives in Adado or occasional help from neighbours, often managing only a couple of jerrycans a day.

“We have a water reservoir, but it is dry. We used to buy water from trucks, but now we cannot afford it. Sometimes we beg for a few containers, but it is not enough for a family this size,” she said.

Four of her children, who were attending a free primary school in Hog-dugaag, are without education as the school closed earlier this year when families migrated and the teachers left.

Across rural parts of Galgadud region, including Hog-dugaag, Qansahley, Mirdisyale, Biyo-gadud, Qurdubanle, and Hinjilab, pastoralist families are facing similar challenges as credit has been cut off and drought continues to erode their remaining resources.

Gure Ahmed Mohamed, a father of eight in Biyo-gadud, said his family had been unable to cook regularly since early March after accumulating nearly $2,000 in debt at a local shop. The shopkeeper refused to extend further credit until they paid off the balance.

“In the past, we took food on credit, but now there is no credit and no assistance. My family needs everything a household requires, but I have no way to provide it. I spend my time thinking about how to get food for the night, but there is nowhere to turn,” Gure said.

He has 18 weak goats left from his herd of 60. He continues to lose goats due to lack of water and pasture.

With no nearby health facility, Gure recently had to pay for his sister to reach hospital in Adado after being in prolonged labour. It cost $60 for transport and $150 for medical care.

“There are no medicines here, not even basic ones,” he said. “People suffer without treatment. It is a large area with many people, but no services.”

His four school-age children are also out of school due to the lack of education facilities in the area.

The situation reflects the broader impact of the recurring drought that has wiped out livestock, reduced incomes, and strained traditional coping mechanisms such as credit systems and community support.

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She is making $10-$15 a day, enabling her to meet her household’s basic needs after struggling for long to afford even one meal a day.

“The shop has changed our lives. We now cook three meals a day. We were only able to cook once, which wasn’t enough. The banana business covers all our household expenses – I now depend on my own work,” she said.

She was assisted by a livelihoods support programme in Lower Shabelle region for displaced and impoverished families to recover from hardship through small businesses, farming, and livestock support.

Nurto’s business was seeded with funds of $1,000 and has already doubled in value to $2,300.

Her family can now afford to buy a full barrel of water for $2, instead of borrowing small amounts from neighbours. She has repaid $100 of the debt she owes to shopkeepers for food. In February, she sent her children back to school after they had dropped out due to lack of fees.

“They were not studying at all. Now three are in school and three are in Koranic classes. I pay $6 per child for school and $5 for the others. Life is much better now,” she said.

In March, Nurto opened a second stall, employing two men to sell bananas. She has put her husband in charge of the new stall, so they manage the business together. Rental for the stalls is $50 and she pays the workers $2 a day each.

In addition to financial support, she received training on how to manage and grow her business. Having previously earned about a dollar a day hawking bananas, she has plans to expand her formal business.

Fowsiya Bilal Tifow, a mother of eight, is part of a group of 15 people managing three greenhouse farms that were given land, seeds, and irrigation systems under the same livelihoods support programme.

They planted tomatoes and cucumbers last November and began harvesting in February. The produce is sold in Afgoye markets, and profits are shared among the group, with each member earning $27 to $30 a week.

“There has been a big change in our lives. Before, we had nothing. Now we can provide enough food and education for our children. We grow vegetables and sell them every few days. That income supports our daily needs,” she said.

Fowsiya had relied on casual farm work and selling fried snacks in Afgoye, earning about $2 a day. When she had no income, her children went hungry. She struggled to pay the $10 rent for her two-room house and sometimes had to ask relatives for temporary support. Now she pays her rent consistently and no longer faces the same level of financial stress.

Last month, she enrolled two of them in religious classes, paying a total of $4. She plans to start saving to open her own business in the future.

“I feel hopeful now. We work together as a group on the farm and want to increase our production. We are grateful for the support we received,” she said.

The initiative run by Aridlife aims to help families achieve financial independence by building on their existing skills. Programme manager at Aridlife, Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim, said they have supported 130 families in Afgoye and Balad districts since November 2025, with funding from Norwegian Aid through international NGO, SOS. They aim to reach a total of 640 families.

Households with experience in livestock were given animals, including milking animals to ensure a steady source of income. Others received business capital or agricultural support.

“The aim was to help people recover and generate sustainable income. We matched each person with what they already knew how to do. Farmers received greenhouses, traders were supported to expand businesses, and pastoralists received livestock,” Ibrahim said.

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The attacks, which began in late March, destroyed homes, farms, and small businesses that residents depended on in Bulo-Khalif. Some families fled to nearby districts including Barawe and Afgooye, while others remain trapped in the village, facing worsening hardship without any support.

Among those affected is Aden Gedi Mohamed, whose family of seven has been impoverished overnight.

The airstrikes destroyed his two-room house, a vehicle he used to earn $300 to $400 a month, his water storage facilities, his four-hectare farm where he cultivated maize and vegetables – and his cash savings.

The family can no longer afford even their basic needs.

“We used to cook twice a day. Now even getting one meal is difficult. If we manage once, we are grateful,” he said.

“The bombing burned our house, our food, and my vehicle. Even the little money I had was lost. We survived by sleeping outside that night. No one was injured, but we lost everything.”

With no resources left, his family depends on occasional support from neighbours, although this assistance is unreliable as most people in the area are also struggling due to insecurity and economic strain.

Despite fears of further airstrikes, Aden says he has no option but to stay in the village.

“I don’t feel safe staying here, but I have no money to leave and no place to go where life would be better,” he said.

Getting enough water is a daily challenge, with the family having to ask neighbours to spare them 20 litres a day.

The crisis has disrupted education for Aden’s four children. They were attending a Koranic school, whose teacher fled the village because of the conflict.

Bulo-Khalif remains a contested area between Somali government forces and Al-Shabaab, with residents caught in the middle of ongoing conflict. Locals say they don’t know who carried out the airstrikes, as they receive no information from official sources.

Livelihoods in the area had already been weakened by drought, which reduced crop yields and livestock productivity, leaving families already vulnerable when the strikes occurred.

Some residents fled to safety in displacement camps. Among them is Mohamed Hajji Ahmed, who arrived with his family in Gegsow displacement camp on the outskirts of Barawe in late March.

His nine children are facing severe hardship in the camp, where basic services such as water, healthcare, and education are lacking.

“We only escaped with our lives. Here, we have no relatives and no support. The children sleep hungry most nights,” he said.

Mohamed and his wife survive by begging for cooked food, which is never enough. Access to water is one of their biggest challenges.

“We cannot afford to buy water. Sometimes we fetch from wells, but even that depends on help from others. A small jerry can costs $0.25, and we don’t have that,” he added.

Mohamed had already lost 40 goats during the drought and was unable to cultivate his eight-hectare farm due to lack of rain. He had taken loans from local traders to support his family and now owes around $200.

“I borrowed money to feed my children in the last two months before we left. Now I am displaced and cannot pay it back. That debt is a heavy burden on me,” he said.

He also lost his house in the airstrikes and says he does not know when it would be safe to return.

The chairman of Gegsow camp, Ibrahim Osman, said that more than 50 families had arrived in recent weeks, many having walked distances of 110 to 120 kilometres. Many of the new arrivals were in poor condition and included vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

“They fled heavy bombardment they had never experienced before. Some walked long distances because they had no transport. Their situation is very bad,” the camp chairman told Radio Ergo.

The new arrivals have joined over 450 families already living in the camp, most of whom were displaced by insecurity across Lower Shabelle.

Ibrahim said neither local authorities nor aid agencies had provided assistance to the newly displaced families, leaving camp leaders with limited capacity to respond.

“If they do not receive help soon, their situation will deteriorate,” he warned.

There are no official figures available on the total number of families displaced from Bulo-Khalif since March.

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Abdisalan Ahmed Abdi, a former teacher, heads out each day with basic tools to mining sites not far from his home in Milho, returning with income that has significantly improved his family’s living conditions.

He earns at least $15 a day to cover food, water, electricity, and other essentials for his wife and eight children.

“The work has changed my life. I was living in a rented house and was constantly worried for my family. Now I have built my own home, I pay for schooling, and I can meet all our needs. I hope to achieve even more and start other businesses,” he said.

Abdisalan arrived in the area with nothing after fleeing violence in Erigabo in 2024. He has since managed to save around $20,000 after finding and selling gold deposits. He built a two-room corrugated iron house on the outskirts of the town, becoming one of the more stable residents in the community.

He attributes his progress to persistence despite the demanding nature of the work.

“Gold mining is very hard. The place is extremely hot, and the pits are deep. Sometimes it becomes difficult to breathe. It depends on luck – two people can work in the same place, and one may find gold while the other finds nothing.”

In recent weeks, his findings have declined due to rainwater flooding the pits. Global factors, including conflict in the Middle East, have affected gold prices, with a gram of gold that previously sold for over $120 now fetching $90-$100.

Most miners in the area extract gold from shallow depths of one to two metres, while others dig as deep as 100 metres underground despite the significant risks.

“The deeper pits are the most dangerous and we lack proper equipment. Hiring machinery is expensive, and we don’t have tools to detect where gold is. But buyers have slowed down due to the situation in the markets,” he told Radio Ergo.

Abdisalan began mining without any training after failing to find work as a teacher. Others who lost livestock due to drought have also joined, like Ibrahim Mohamed Abdi, a former pastoralist.

He lost 160 goats due to water shortages and lack of grazing. Encouraged by others, he started mining late last year and now spends long hours, often overnight, in the pits making around $10 a day to support his family of eight.

“This work has improved our lives,” he said. “We are no longer begging. I can pay rent, send my children to school, and provide for my family.”

However, the work is labour-intensive and requires multiple steps. Soil is collected, transported to water sources, and washed repeatedly to separate any traces of gold from other residue.

Ibrahim relies on simple, traditional tools that limit his productivity. More advanced imported equipment costing over $3,000 is in use by others. He hopes to acquire essential gear, including breathing equipment to make working in deep pits safer.

“The danger is everywhere. Rocks can fall on you, insects bite, and the pits can collapse. Sometimes you can’t breathe. It is very dangerous work,” he said.

Still, the work has allowed him to rent a two-room house for $80 a month and support three of his children in school.

Local leaders say the influx of people into gold mining reflects broader economic pressures across the region.

The chairman of one of the local mining companies, Mohamed Garaad, said many of those joining the sector are displaced people, former pastoralists who lost their livestock, or fishermen who abandoned coastal livelihoods due to attacks and overfishing by illegal foreign trawlers.

“Anyone can come and mine here,” he said. “There are no restrictions. But the increasing number of people has made the work harder, as miners are forced to dig deeper and deeper.”

He highlighted poor infrastructure as a major challenge, noting that roads connecting the mining areas to Milho were in poor condition, making it difficult to transport equipment and supplies.

“Even bringing in tools is a challenge,” he said. “Most equipment has to be imported, often from China, which increases costs.”

Safety is another growing concern. In the past three months, one miner has died and 10 others have been injured after pits collapsed during excavation. Many of the new arrivals lack the skills needed for safe mining, increasing the likelihood of accidents.

“These are people pushed into this work by hardship,” he said. “They don’t have training, but they have no other options.”

Local leaders say gold mining could develop to provide sustainable livelihoods, particularly for young people, if it is supported with investment, training, and modern equipment.

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