Wild Animals Echo Climate Change's Destruction in Somalia
Farah Ibrahim Hassan, 48, has lost everything he planted on his three hectare farm in Gabarlawe village near Beletweyne in southern Somalia twice in the space of six months this year.
After the river Shabelle flooded and washed away his crops in May, he decided to replant in mid-July. But porcupines, monkeys, pigs and birds invaded the land and ate all the crops and vegetables.
The same happened to Amina Beddel, who owns two hectares on the outskirts of Beletweyne, She said she was 12 million Somali shillings ($444) in debt after borrowing to replant after the floods.
“The maize and beans I planted again after the floods were eaten by wild animals shortly before harvest. Even at night they destroyed it and I could not keep them away,” she said.
Jim Clark