Farming without soil helps to tackle Somalia's hunger crisis

DW (English)

In Somalia, internally displaced women who previously depended on food aid are growing spinach, tomatoes and leafy greens in hydroponic units with nutrient-rich water instead of soil.

Transcript

00:00For these women in Somalia, working here is something very special.

00:06They planted everything themselves.

00:09And even though there's little water here in the region,

00:12spinach, chard and cucumbers are thriving in the hothouses.

00:17These beautiful farms have changed our lives.

00:23We used to get tomatoes and spinach from the market and cook it at home.

00:29Now we grow vegetables like spinach ourselves.

00:34Our life has positively changed and we have many benefits.

00:39The women have learned how to cultivate vegetables without soil.

00:43They mix core coconut fibre from coconut shells with some water and plant the seeds in it.

00:51SOS Children's Villages Somalia launched the project in Baydoa in 2022.

00:58Farming is very difficult in this largely arid country.

01:01Extreme weather events are making it even more difficult.

01:07At SOS, we thought of initiating a new method called hydroponic farming,

01:16which can cope with climate change.

01:22After the recurring droughts and floods, which forced people to evacuate their farms,

01:27we introduced hydroponic farming, which is quite new in Somalia.

01:31The plants don't need much room to grow.

01:38In a single hothouse, there are hundreds of pots in the pipes that are filled with water.

01:47This water has been enriched with nutrients.

01:51Like hundreds of thousands in Somalia, Amina Hassan has fled the conflict and extreme weather events.

01:58The work in the greenhouse is crucial to her and her family.

02:03She lives with her family in a camp for internally displaced people on the edge of Baydoa.

02:09I have twelve children. Two of them died in the drought, but ten survived.

02:17We spent one night in a town on our way to a village called Mador.

02:21The drought continued, and as we walked, we spent the night in different places.

02:26It was all due to a severe drought that had hit the country.

02:31Training in hydroculture and hothouse cultivation is part of the program,

02:36which is open to locals and people who have fled from other parts of Somalia.

02:41Some 500 women and young people have taken part so far.

02:45They're used to practice traditional arable farming.

02:48We've been mostly teaching women this new method of farming.

02:55We also taught a few men.

02:58We mostly taught women because they're the backbone of the family

03:03and are mostly engaged in food preparation and income generation.

03:08That's why we decided to teach women about the hydroponic farming system.

03:15Dotted around the city are 41 hothouses like this.

03:20Each one is managed by 10 to 15 women.

03:23They can harvest in all four seasons, producing enough food to cover their own needs and sell on the market.

03:31Together, they have a turnover of the equivalent of approximately 5,200 euros a year.

03:39Each woman earns some 43 euros a month.

03:43To help build the hothouses, the organization gets funding from Germany and Sweden.

03:49Each one costs 3,800 euros.

03:52The water pumps are solar powered.

03:54The government plays an advisory role.

03:58The project enables the production of quality, nutritious food within a short time.

04:07The introduction of cash crops through these initiatives not only feeds and benefits people,

04:12but also generates income for local communities.

04:18These efforts are essential in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change

04:22and ensuring the well-being and livelihood of the affected populations.

04:29Some of the vegetable crops are later planted out in sand to anchor the crop.

04:37At first, many women were skeptical, but now they are convinced by the new approach.

04:43We're asking the organization to expand greenhouse farming, so three to five people can share a greenhouse farm instead of 15.

04:53We expect the organization to increase the number of greenhouses, since we've learned and now understand this method.

05:02The pilot project in Baidoa is a success story.

05:07SOS Children's Villages Somalia is planning to introduce hydroponics in other parts of the country.

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