Facing drought, Somaliland looks to Israel for help with water management.
On Faysal Omar Salah’s family farm, the seeded furrows are nothing but dust after months without rain. Like many in Somaliland, he hopes Israel can help.
“We are desperate,” said Salah, whose two children, out of school, survive only thanks to the milk from his cattle.
In the nearby Lallays reservoir, dozens of camels graze on wild plants, but not a single puddle remains.
Locals say no rain has fallen on Lallays, around 45 minutes’ drive from the capital Hargeisa, since last June or July, even though this is traditionally the wettest part of Somaliland.
“If the rain crisis continues, we will just leave this land and go to a town,” said Salah.
He prays to Allah, but is also putting his faith in Israel.
“We hope Israel will help us cultivate our dry land,” he said.
In December, the Israeli government became the first country to recognise the independence of Somaliland since it declared its autonomy from Somalia in 1991 following a civil war.
There are rumours Israel may establish a military base in Somaliland. Somalia’s federal government is livid, with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud calling it “the greatest violation of Somalia’s sovereignty”.
But for now Israel prefers to focus on civilian cooperation — assisting Somaliland with issues around the economy, agriculture, health, and above all, water.
It has invited Somaliland water sector workers for training — a first batch of 25 left this weekend — with Israeli experts due to visit the territory to help install technology soon.
Israel, an arid country, is a world leader in water management — nearly 90 percent of its wastewater is recycled and vast seawater desalination plants provide more than 80 percent of its drinking water.
This expertise is a valuable diplomatic carrot in the era of climate change.
Rainy seasons in Somaliland have been late and meagre for at least five years, leading to frequent droughts, according to the Somaliland Ministry of Agriculture.
It hopes Israeli help can significantly boost the amount of land under cultivation from its current level of just 3 percent.
“Inshallah, Israel is going to help us changing our practices. Because if you want to change practices, you need to have knowledge,” ministry official Mokhtar Dahir Ahmed told AFP.
Some 90 percent of Somaliland’s farmers, like Salah, rely solely on rainfall, said Abdirazak Sheikh Muhamad, an agronomist.
“The nutritional situation is very bad and malnutrition is increasing,” he said.
‘No water, no life’
Water problems exist across the region. The World Food Programme estimates that a quarter of Somalia’s population, including Somaliland — 4.4 million people — are facing severe food insecurity as a result.
But some in Somaliland are not waiting for outside help.
A few kilometres from Salah’s devastated fields, Muhummad Mohamad Ismail, 45, tends with great care to his verdant orange and papaya trees.
He lost more than half of his 150 fruit trees to drought in recent years, but he started adapting his techniques, such as digging holes around their trunks to pour in water and covering them back up to prevent evaporation.
He sold livestock to raise the money for a large concrete reservoir for $2,500. That was a fortune by local standards, and it must be filled by water trucks around 10 times a year.
But the results are clear from the lush rows of trees on his farm.
“Everything I do is linked to water. If there is no water, there is no life,” he said.
