Displaced pastoralists in Somaliland, whose livestock died in recent droughts, have been collecting their first harvest of vegetables grown in greenhouses.
The project, supported by a Somali diaspora group in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), is gradually changing the lives of former pastoralists like Ali Mohamud Liban, who is living now in Balimataan.
“Venturing into this field of farming has given me an opportunity to improve my life. There is nothing I can compare with the skills I have acquired!” said Ali, who lost his livestock in the 2017 drought.
Since coming to Balimataan, 85 km from Hargeisa, Ali and his family have had no means of earning a living.
Ali was one of 40 participants in a six months’ training on greenhouse farming skills provided by Iftin Kvindeforening, a Denmark-based Diaspora organisation, with co-financing from DRC.
They planted tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and red peppers in a 250 x 150 metre greenhouse. Ali’s family received a token two kilos of tomatoes from the farm’s first harvest in June.