Baidoa, a city heavily reliant on agriculture, is facing a crisis that has severely impacted local farming production.

Farmers in the region are grappling with a multitude of challenges, including extreme water scarcity, a lack of essential farming inputs, and limited resources.

These obstacles have hindered agricultural growth, threatening the livelihoods of the local population.

To better understand the situation, Baraarug team spoke with several Baidoa farmers, who shared firsthand accounts of the difficulties they are experiencing and the urgent measures needed to address the crisis.

"Farmers are struggling with numerous challenges. The most severe is the ongoing drought in the country, which has led to extreme water shortages. The second major challenge is the lack of access to essential farming supplies and medicines necessary for agricultural production,” said Mohamed Abdirahman Abdirisak, a farmer from Baidoa.

The water scarcity issue has intensified in recent months, with farmers reporting insufficient rainfall and inadequate irrigation systems.

"The greatest challenge we are currently facing as farmers is water scarcity. Over the past year, we did not receive sufficient rainfall. Additionally, due to the absence of a proper irrigation system, the situation has worsened, and our region is now experiencing severe water shortages. As a result, our crops have yet to grow,” explained Hassan Halik Ali Hassan, another Baidoa farmer.

Lack of adequate infrastructure

In addition to water shortages, farmers are dealing with a lack of adequate infrastructure to store water for irrigation.

"One of the major challenges we face is the lack of adequate wells and reservoirs for farm irrigation. The few existing reservoirs are insufficient to meet our water needs, forcing us to irrigate manually—a labor-intensive and inefficient method. Therefore, farmers urgently require the construction of water storage reservoirs to ensure a reliable water supply,” said Ali Isak Hassan, also a farmer from Baidoa.

As Baidoa’s agricultural community continues to face mounting difficulties, experts and local authorities must act swiftly to address these pressing issues, especially the water crisis, to safeguard food security and the livelihoods of farmers in the region.

Source - https://hornobserver.com