Somalia: With solar energy against drought and hunger

Keyf Hussein (37) lives with her ten -member family in the village of Dalsan in Somalia. In your garden, peppers, kale, spinach and watermelons thrive. "My children love the watermelons!" She says. Like most people in the region, Keyf Hussein's family of cattle breeding and agriculture lives. But the irregular and weak rainfall in recent years have let the fountains dry out. Many animals have thirsted for thirst, and fields are dried out. In the East African country, more than five million people are threatened with hunger.

Together with the local organization Napad (Nomadic Assitance for Peace and Development), Terre des Hommes has launched a project in the Gedo and Galgadud regions that improves the water supply of the communities and the diet of 2,500 households. For this purpose, solar -powered water supply systems were set up in three communities. Keyf Hussein has to pour your garden in the morning and evening. The fountain of the village no longer gave that.

But thanks to the new technology, water can also be pumped up from a large depth so that there is enough water to supply cattle and vegetable gardens. At the same time, Keyf Hussein has received adapted seeds and also training in which she learns suitable cultivation methods in order to better deal with water shortages. A total of 50 women take part in the project. »Thanks to the training and the exchange with the Napad team, we can manage our vegetable gardens. I now have nutritious fruit and vegetables for my family, «she reports. And what the family cannot consume itself is giving away to her neighbors. "We are very grateful for the project through which we have learned this type of agriculture." Keyf Hussein also has a wish for the future: "I hope that I can grow more in the future and sell it on the market in Abudwak."