In his latest supervisory tour to Somali State, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has visited irrigated farms and their productivity. The thriving irrigation development in the country in general and in Somali state in particular is an endeavor that kindles big hope in transforming the poor, traditional farming practice and helping the nation to become food self-sufficient.
For centuries, majority of the population in Somali State largely relied on animal husbandry and pastoralism to make a living. Though the pastoralism animal husbandry economy has its own merits, it also comes with its own shortcomings given the needs of the people to lead a decent and stable living that fits with the time.
As it is well known pastoralists used to spend most of their time travelling here and there in search of pasture and water for their cattle. This exposes them to various problems in their livelihood like loss of their cattle due to accidents, predatory wild animals attack, and conflict with other communities due to resource competition, loss of the weight and quality of their cattle due to long tiresome travel, among others.
Furthermore, their movement from place to place exposes the environment for degradation. Hence, the efforts of the government to introduce a sedentary farming and animal husbandry in places like Somali State are an intervention with multiple impacts.
Pastoralists occupy a large area in the country. Therefore, enabling the people in these areas to sedentary and irrigation farming means adding a huge sum of economic force to the country's growing agriculture sector. In addition to changing their lives, they have a potential to change the economic growth trend of the entire nation.
The government is actually promoting irrigation farming throughout the country. These activities are also bearing results in reaping increased volume of agricultural produces. This has a potential to address the multifaceted problems of the country whether economic, political or social.
With its rising population and rapidly growing demand for food, the country needs to encourage similar development projects that exponentially raise its food productivity and help its food self-sufficiency and food sovereignty.
Indeed, the country has a lot of arable land that can produce adequate food crops sufficient to feed the country and even supply to export market. However, the backward method that has long reigned in the country had fettered its farmers from producing to their maximum potential. As a result, the country was well-known in the past for being vulnerable to chronic food insecurity as well as danger during drought seasons. But ensuring food security and becoming food sovereign is an all rounded solution to the multifaceted problems of the country.
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Once the country covers its own food supply in terms of quantity, it can continue to stabilize the food market enabling the low income earners overcome the soaring cost of living.
The local production of the food crops like wheat is important as the country could save its hard currency. It's well-known that the government has been obliged to spend hard won foreign currency to the import of wheat sometime in the past since it has to give priority to rescue people imminent scarcity of food. Since the country can increase its productivity, it is possible to divert the currency to other priorities.
In order to further uphold and diversify the benefits of the agricultural productivity, the government must continue supporting the sector with agricultural technology, trained human resource as well as financial support, among others.
