Welcome back to Somalia! We’re in Annayo, a small farming community in the northern part of the country. The next thirty days will be all about Annayo – boosting these farmers’ confidence that every season will provide enough bounty to support their families.
We kicked off the month by talking to farmers – they told us what their needs were, and we brainstormed some ideas for how best to respond. One theme we saw come up time and time again was the need for more livestock – for manure for crops, milk to sell in the market, meat for the family, or to produce offspring that they could sell for income.
So, what better place to start than by responding to this number one need…getting these farmers some goats!
This community was heavily impacted by the recent droughts in 2017, and is still feeling many of the repercussions of the water shortage. Many people lost not only crops but livestock, trees and more.
An infusion of more goats will help these families get back on their feet.
“I use everything I make from my farm to send my children to school,” said Mawhid Ahmed, one of the farmers we spoke with. “I lost all of my livestock in the droughts, but more livestock will allow me to make more money because I can sell milk to pay my children’s education.”
This change made possible by Mankind is My Business.