Farms dry up as lifeline river Shabelle turns to recreational use

Around 30 farmers, fishermen and high school graduates aged between 20 and 30 years old are working on the banks of the drying river Shabelle in Johwar, southern Somalia, earning cash teaching children to swim and washing cars.

Feisal Abdullahi Somow, 25, a farmer, has taken to car washing because his crops dried up due to shrinking water levels and he has no other work.

“I make $10 at most per day, when the business is slow and cars are few, I get $8-$7. I give my family $3 for their daily bills and I save the rest so that we can use it when we need it most. You never know, you can fall sick,” he said.

Feisal says he does not have money to buy a generator to pump water to his farm, and has no other means of irrigation. In January, the grain, sesame, and beans he planted on his four hectares all shrivelled up. He is worried about paying rent and supporting his family of three. He hopes he can resume farming if they receive some rainfall in the area.

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is the leader of a group of fishermen teaching young children to swim on Thursdays and Fridays. He said the decrease in water levels in the river means there are no fish so they are out of work and cannot find any other employment.

“There are crocodiles in the water, the other day we saw a crocodile and we managed to kill it. We have knives and arrows and as a group we killed it. The children come alone without their parents mostly, so it is risky,” he said.

Mohamed said he finished high school and went into fishing as his family could not afford to pay his university fees.

The river, the lifeline for farmers and pastoralists in the breadbasket area, is so low that among the recreational activities going on are photography. Osman Haji Ahmed tours the river in the evening to take pictures and enjoys the scenic backdrop of the water trickling over the stones.

“When you come to the river, you are free to take pictures without paying, it’s good scenery for pictures,” he said.

Other people are collecting sand from the exposed riverbed using vehicles and donkey carts for use in construction.