Drought-hit Lower Juba pastoralists flee toward Somali-Kenyan border

Tuesday April 14, 2026

Displaced families grapple with food, water shortages/File Photo/Ergo

Pastoralist families uprooted by drought in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region have reached Kulbiyow, a small border town near Kenya, stripped of their livestock, shelter and dependable access to food.

They left behind rural settlements around Buulo-Haaji, near Kismayo, after months of severe drought depleted water points, killed animals and shattered the livelihoods that sustained them.

Among those now struggling in Kulbiyow is Farhia Daud Omar, a mother of 10 who has recently given birth. Her family came in search of humanitarian support, only to find themselves confronting the same old crisis in a different place: not enough food, no shelter and little more than the bare essentials needed to get by.

For now, they are surviving on one meal a day, offered by members of the host community, while also coping with the arrival of seasonal rains soon after they settled there.

“Rain fell on us while we were staying in a low lying area. The water washed away the little food we had. I couldn’t find a place to shelter the children, so we had to move again to an open area,” Farhia told Radio Ergo.

People in Kulbiyow have tried to help by sharing limited amounts of food and water. But without shelter, the displaced families have nowhere safe to keep what they receive.

Farhia’s baby, not yet a month old, was born during the family’s 25-day trek. When labour began, she was left in an isolated area with another woman while her husband pressed on with the rest of the children.

Three days later, health workers from Kulbiyow arrived after hearing about her condition. She said they gave her treatment, including rehydration and medication, before taking her and the baby to the village.

“At that time, I was very sick. My body was swollen and I had anemia. They treated me, and I recovered,” she said.

Farhia said she is now preoccupied with how she will feed her children and shield them from mosquitoes, cold nights and the harsh daytime heat.

“We sleep on mats on the ground. There are no mattresses or anything else. That is how we live,” she said.

The family has lost almost all of its herd — 35 cattle and 25 goats — and now has only three animals left, none of them productive. With their main source of income gone, they say they can do little beyond appeal for outside help.

Families who fled Buulo-Haaji initially settled about three kilometres from Kulbiyow, but flooding forced them to move again after the rains came. They are now living on higher ground about two kilometres away.

Hassan Salad Nur, another displaced pastoralist, said his family of 17 is facing the same hardship. He has 10 children to support.

“For two nights, we had nowhere to shelter from the rain. It fell directly on us. We only had torn plastic sheets, and even some of the animals we brought died in the rain. I lost six goats,” Hassan said.

Hassan said his family left Santaro village near Buulo-Haaji after drought dried up water sources and wiped out their herd of 40 cattle and 30 goats. Losing the animals, he said, left them uncertain and dependent on the help of others.

The family received small amounts of food and oil, but much of it was ruined by rain because they had nowhere to store it. Adjusting to life in Kulbiyow has been especially hard, he said, because they lack social ties in the town.

“There is no shop where I can get food on credit because I don’t know people here. Those who know me are aware that I lost my livestock, so they cannot help much,” Hassan told Radio Ergo.

He said the drought has hit much of the surrounding area, with places such as Santaro, Abaloley and Baqdaad all affected, leaving both people and animals without water or pasture.

“Last year at this time, our life was better. Now we are in a situation that I don’t know how to manage,” he added.

Residents of Kulbiyow say they have been trying to assist the newly arrived families even as they face their own difficulties.

Mohamed Abdullahi Omar, a community elder in Kulbiyow, said locals and village leaders organised collections to help the displaced.

“We collected livestock and money from the community to help them. Traders also contributed, and we worked together to provide what we could. It was self-help,” he said.

He said the aid is far from sufficient to cover the increasing need, especially as more families continue to arrive empty-handed. The host community, he added, has also been hit by the same drought, leaving it with limited capacity to keep helping.