Safety net top-ups come at critical time in drought-affected Somalia
“This new extra cash has enabled us to pay our debts at shops, and to meet other needs.”
By Petroc Wilton
“Baxnaano has made a great deal of change… families like mine, who could not afford to buy food, now have better livelihoods,” says 19-year-old Nimo Ali Said, sitting back against a rough mud brick wall in the village of Galbarwaaqo. “And this new extra cash has [enabled] us to pay our debts at shops, and [to meet] other needs.”
“This extra money…has changed the livelihood of me and my family,” agrees 55-year-old Xadiyo Ahmed Ali. “It has helped us tremendously and given us better lives.”
Both women live in Galmudug State in central Somalia; both have been internally displaced by drought. Nimo, one of eight in her family, had to move over 125 kilometres from her home in Dhambeyl village to Galbarwaaqo; Xadiyo, with her family of four, has moved from Wargalo to Docol.
Both Nimo and Xadiyo have just received additional cash top-ups, supported by the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), through the government-owned, World Bank-backed Shock Responsive Safety Net for Human Capital Project — known in Somali as Baxnaano.
Started in late 2019, Baxnaano provides predictable, unconditional cash transfers to some of the most vulnerable rural households in Somalia. The recipients are pregnant women, nursing mothers, or women who are the primary caregivers of children under 5 years of age. The World Food Programme (WFP) supports the Federal Government of Somalia to implement these transfers, informing the longer-term development of a government-owned delivery system.
The transfers help families to build resilience against the frequent shocks to which Somalia is prone — drought, flooding, conflict, and instability — and to meet household needs such as food and education for their children, building better human capital outcomes. The project is targeting 200,000 households, well over a million people.
From late 2021,the EU (through the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) and the UK (through the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) have provided additional relief assistance directly through the transfer mechanisms set up for this government-led safety net. Over 17,000 households in specific districts, selected based on criteria that include deteriorating food security, have received additional cash top-ups that complement the regular Baxnaano transfers in strengthening families against shocks.
These additional transfers come at a critical time that starkly demonstrates the ongoing need to build shock responsiveness in Somalia. As of December 2021, three consecutive poor rainy seasons have left Somalia facing a severe drought, with an estimated four to five million people now needing support to prevent them slipping into crisis-level food insecurity. Government-led safety nets like Baxnaano are an important element in ensuring people like Xadiyo and Nimo can remain resilient in the face of these types of shocks, moving away from cyclic dependence on traditional humanitarian aid.
“The support we have received from the Baxnaano project is really appreciated,” says Xadiyo. “We… urge Baxnaano to increase the [support] during these hardship times of severe drought.”
