Araweelo News Network
Hargeisa(ANN)-Nomadic communities like Anab’s are leaving their villages in the thousands because of Somalia’s relentless drought.
Anab Salah (33) counts 25 sheep and goats. Only 25, she thinks. It’s a tiny amount compared to the 150 she owned before the drought struck. Anab’s family, like the rest of her community in Fiqifuliye village, lost most of their livestock to the worst drought that has hit in 20 years. They were forced to leave their nomadic life and move to another village for support.
Facing famine
Fiqifuliye village lies in the Sanaag in Somaliland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia. Sanaag has been hit hard by several years of consecutive failed rains. The result has been two back-to-back droughts. Over 444,000 have been displaced in five short months across the country – some 16,000 in Sanaag region alone. Experts fear that if the situation doesn’t improve, famine will strike Somalia in the coming months. Last time famine struck Somalia, 260,00 people died.