Barbershop: The Ethiopian Cut

Refugee & host community business start-ups in Ethiopia’s Somali region

IOM - UN Migration
Aug 9, 2017 · 4 min read
Abdi Fatah Abdi (left) and his friends, three other barbers, pose for the camera in their shop in Dolo Ado, Somali Region, Ethiopia. Photo: Rikka Tupaz/UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

20-year-old barber Abdi Fatah Abdi lives in Dolo town with his parents and nine brothers and sisters. Dolo Ado is located near Ethiopia’s border with Somalia in an area experiencing extreme drought and displacement and not for the first time. This is where Abdi grew up.

A few months ago, Abdi was struggling to find a job. Now, his job at the barbershop means that he is earning enough money not only to buy himself clothes and the other necessities of a 20-something-year-old man but to contribute to his family’s income, helping cover their basic needs too.

Abdi shaves a customers beard. Photo: Rikka Tupaz/UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

Abdi and the other barber rotate the days they cut hair in the barbershop and, in a cooperative style, they share whatever profits are made each month.

“I would like to open my own barbershop one day using part of the money I’m earning,” explained Abdi, who saves some of his monthly income for future plans.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is providing targeted livelihood assistance for refugees and the communities hosting them in Dolo Ado, Somali Region in Ethiopia’s south-east — the district, where Dolo town is located. IOM supported Abdi and nine other people from Dolo Ado in starting their own barbershop businesses by providing materials and cash advance. Six barbershops were created throughout the district helping fill a gap in the local industry.

“We’ve been open for two months and so far it’s doing well. It keeps us busy and at the same time we’re earning,” said Abdi on the success of the new enterprise.

Abdi prepares another customer. Photo: Rikka Tupaz/UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

Dolo Ado’s Melkadida and Bokolmayo refugee camps are among the least developed areas in the district with limited infrastructure and access to basic services and security. The effects of drought across the border in Somalia are even more severe than in Ethiopia, causing large inflows of refugees into the region. The limited infrastructure and access to social services, livelihoods and natural resources is causing competition between the community hosting these new-arrivals and the refugees themselves.

IOM’s livelihood assistance has been developed in a way that helps communities in the district cope with the economic impact of hosting large numbers of refugees.

Wali Nasir Khaline is 30 years old and also lives in Dolo town with his wife and three children. Before the IOM livelihood programme, Wali had been working as a day-labourer washing dishes in a restaurant barely making enough money to support himself, let alone his young family. Today, as a trained carpenter, he is earning a regular, higher wage enabling him to provide for his family and ensuring that his children will go to school once they reach the right age.

Wali Nasir Khaline working on a bed frame in the carpentry shop. Photo: Rikka Tupaz/UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

“I was very excited to hear when IOM announced they were going to provide carpentry start up kits. What IOM provided is life changing. Now I have a steady income,” explained Wali.

“I am currently constructing a bed. The orders are coming in and I’m making relatively good money,” said Wali, modestly describing his new found success.

Similar to the barbershop, the carpentry shop is managed by ten carpenters, who work on a rotation system. And just like Abdi, Wali is thinking about the future and is saving money to be independent and open his own shop. These are ambitions that his previous position at the restaurant would not allow.

Wali working with a colleague on a bed frame outside their carpentry shop. Photo: Rikka Tupaz/UN Migration Agency (IOM) 2017

IOM’s livelihood work in Dolo Ado was funded by the Government of Japan, which supported a total of 1,260 beneficiaries from the refugee and host communities. Other start-up support from IOM fostered the creation of tailoring, embroidery, beauty salon, henna design and catering businesses.

IOM is also carrying out activities that support stabilization and increased social cohesion between refugees and their host communities. This crucial to mitigate any potential tensions that could trigger conflict, secondary displacement and recruitment of young people into extremist groups.

As the drought endures in Somalia, more and more people are expected to cross the border into Ethiopia’s Somali Region and settle in and around Adbi and Wali’s town — many having walked for days with little to no food or water in harsh weather conditions. Continued support from the humanitarian and donor community is vital to meet needs of both refugees and the host population, fostering peaceful coexistence in Ethiopia.


This story was written by Rikka Tupaz in IOM Ethiopia.

IOM - UN Migration

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Official account of IOM, the United Nations Migration Agency.

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