Somalia: Trapped in the grip of armed violence, weather shocks and rising fuel prices
Three decades of armed conflict, plus climate change, plus rising fuel prices is a crushing burden for Somalis.
The ripple effect of the conflict in Ukraine pushing fuel prices up is breaking the local market. Abdinur Ali, 33, runs a taxi business in Galkacyo. He is worried he won’t be able to keep up with the costs if the trend continues. “Before, 20 liters of fuel cost $15. It costs $28 now. Prices keep going up by the day. We are considering parking our cars or even selling them,” he says.
Halwa Osman, 25, who sells groceries at the Galkacyo market, is forced to pass on the rising costs to her customers, many of them struggling to make ends meet. “We sell small bundles of onions, mango, oranges, and tomatoes. What used to be the cost of 10 bundles of assorted fruit and vegetables now only gets you three bundles,” she says.
Millions of Somalis who hoped for the March-May rainy season to alleviate the hardship caused by the prolonged drought are bitterly disappointed. The moderate rains that fell cannot make up for the three consecutive failed rainy seasons. “There is a lack of water. There is no food. The drought is hitting us hard. We are finished if someone doesn’t come to our rescue,” says 51-year-old Kaha Ahmed in Elgule village. She lost 83 goats to the drought and has only 17 left.
“Drought is not new to Somalia, but it happens more frequently now and it affects more severely than it used to…We also have seen and still keep seeing displacement caused by armed conflict,” says Juerg Eglin, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Somalia.
The ICRC provides cash assistance to people trapped in the grip of armed violence and weather shocks. 55,500 families received $90 each last month. Inflation is decreasing the value of this support and it may need to be increased.
With the Somali Red Crescent Society, the ICRC has been supporting families affected by the drought. Nearly 300,000 people have benefitted from repaired water points. In addition, six emergency mobile health clinics provide health and nutrition support to families in remote areas with no access to healthcare.
For further information, please contact:
Alyona Synenko (English), ICRC Nairobi, Tel.: +254 716 987 265, asynenko@icrc.org
Anisa Hussein (English/Somali), ICRC Somalia, Tel; +254 708 797 750, anisah@icrc.org
SHOTLIST
Length: 00:04:40
Location: Galkacyo, Somalia
Date Of Filming: 31st March and 4th April
Copyright: ICRC access all
On Screen Credit: ICRC written or logo
00:00:00 --> 00:00:14
Medium shots of Kaha Ahmed bottle feeding a goat.
00:00:14 --> 00:00:20
Medium shot of two women giving goats some grass.
00:00:20 --> 00:00:26 SOUNDBITE Kaha Ahmed, Herder (in Somali):
“It has not rained in 3 years in this place we are living in.
00:00:26 --> 00:00:27
There is lack of water.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:31
There is no food.
00:00:31 --> 00:00:33
This is how things are -
00:00:33 --> 00:00:37
we are vulnerable people.”
00:00:37 --> 00:00:44
A group of people walking with goats, one goat momentarily falls.
00:00:44 --> 00:00:50
Medium shot of onions being carried in a wheelbarrow.
00:00:50 --> 00:01:05
Various shots of Halwa Osman working in her vegetable stall in a market in Galckayo
00:01:05 --> 00:01:13 SOUNDBITE Halwa Osman Jamac, Market seller, (in Somali):
“Whatever amount of money we have been buying with 10 bundles of assorted fruits and vegetables is now costing to buy 3 bundles.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:16
The customers are wondering at high cost of products in the market.
00:01:16 --> 00:01:19
The cost of everything in the market is going up.
00:01:19 --> 00:01:23
Food stuffs are expensive.”
00:01:23 --> 00:01:29
Long shot of sucks of onions being unloaded from a lorry.
00:01:29 --> 00:01:30 SOUNDBITE Halwa Osman Jamac, Market seller (in Somali):
“There’s no money in circulation.
00:01:31--> 00:01:36
Because of the drought, people don’t have livestock to sell in the market hence no income.”
00:01:36 --> 00:01:47 SOUNDBITE Juerg Eglin, Head of the ICRC, Somalia (in English): “Drought is not new to Somalia, but it happens more frequently now and more severely and it affects people and communities much more severely than it used to affect them in the past.
00:01:47 --> 00:01:53
Long shot of sucks a lorry driving across a built up street. A few goats in the foreground.
00:01:53 --> 00:02:05 SOUNDBITE Juerg Eglin, Head of the ICRC, Somalia (in English):
“Another important factor adding to the current crisis which is new - it is caused by something happening very far away from Somalia is the global crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
00:02:06--> 00:02:21
that has a whole range of trickle down and trigger effects that is now affecting the poorest people in Somalia with rising prices of basic food commodities, fuel prices are going up.”
00:02:21 --> 00:02:42
Various shots of vehicles in a street. One is being fueled.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:51 SOUNDBITE Abdinur Ali Hashi, Taxi driver in Galkacyo town (in Somali):
“I am at a fuel station and I cannot afford to buy fuel. They are selling 20 litres of fuel for USD28 and it used to be USD15.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:55
The situation is not getting easier. Every day the prices are rising.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:58
Prices keep going up by the day.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:01
Everything is determined by fuel. Everything is expensive.”
00:03:01--> 00:03:04
Long shot of a street in Galckayo market.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:09
Medium shot of a shop in Galckayo market.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:22 SOUNDBITE Juerg Eglin, Head of the ICRC, Somalia (in English):
“On the one hand, we are all talking about drought, about the conditions of the livestock, the farmers, lack of access to water; this is one important element,
00:03:22 --> 00:03:31
but the other element as I said before is conflict, is violence, is uncertainty, communities are destabilized,
00:03:31 --> 00:03:39
people have to flee their homes, so when we hear today about displacements caused by drought - that is one big and important element,
00:03:39 --> 00:03:45
but we also have seen and still keep seeing displacement caused by armed conflict.”
00:03:45 --> 00:03:51
Various shots of a girl preparing a meal at a displaced people camp.
00:03:51 --> 00:04:03
Various shots of people in a displacement camp.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:12
A long shot of a public service vehicle with loads and a couple of goats on its roof. Drives and exits to screen.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:31
A long shot of a goat walking past carcasses of goats.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:40
Various shots of dead goats.
Ends
