Somalia and Ethiopia: Stories of people living through drought and displacement
Three people in Somalia and Ethiopia’s Somali region describe life after repeated drought and loss
Failed rainfall across Somalia and Ethiopia’s Somali region is driving a deepening humanitarian crisis, pushing millions of people to the brink. Repeated droughts have devastated crops, killed livestock and dried up water sources, forcing families who rely on farming to leave their homes in search of food, water and survival.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is responding with emergency nutrition care, water distribution and sanitation support.
These are stories of people living through the drought crisis.
Ten children, two jerrycans
Regay Ali arrived in Baidoa, Somalia, four days ago, carrying a sack of building materials and accompanied by her 10 children, the youngest just seven years old. She came from Weelbelil, a rural area where her family farmed until the drought destroyed their crops and livestock. She sold what little she had left and borrowed money to pay for a motorbike taxi to reach the town. Her husband is dead.
“The drought destroyed our crops and killed our livestock and because of that, we fled,” says Ali. “We are farmers and our crops were destroyed. After that, we didn’t know what else to do.”
A camp leader in one of Baidoa’s displacement sites gave her a small tent. The materials she brought to build a shelter remain in the sack. She has not received the support needed to construct even a temporary structure. The camp distributes two jerrycans of water per day for her family. She estimates she needs 10: for cooking, washing, bathing and drinking. No food assistance has been registered for her household. She was told nothing would be provided until the middle of 2026.
“Hunger is weighing heavily on us,” says Ali. “We were displaced because of hunger and where we are staying now, we only get a small amount of water.”
Days after her arrival, another family joined her: relatives who had also fled the drought, eight more people, all of them sick. There are now more than 15 people in a space meant for one family. Ali feeds them with what neighbours can spare.
Across Somalia, more than 740,000 people have been displaced to Baidoa since 2011 and the town now hosts well over half of its 1.6 million residents as displaced people. Water prices have increased sharply, sanitation remains limited and global acute malnutrition rates among displaced communities in Baidoa are estimated at over 20 per cent, according to the World Food Programme.
MSF provided emergency water trucking across displacement sites in Baidoa between December 2025 and March 2026, distributing over 30 million litres of water to more than 21,000 people. Thousands of newly arrived families like Ali’s remain outside formal assistance structures.
No one left to depend on
Isaq Ibrahim Mohamed grew up in Barey district, Afder Zone, in Ethiopia’s Somali Region, a few kilometres from the Somali border. His community was built around livestock. For generations, families raised cattle and goats across the pasture lands of the southern border zones, slaughtering and selling animals as their sole source of income. Two consecutive years of failed rains changed that entirely.
“Most people in this community depended on livestock,” says Mohamed. “When the rain stopped, we lost our livestock and people fled to wherever they could survive. Life is so harsh because there is nothing to depend on.”
People with savings have left for towns in search of work. Those without money have stayed behind, waiting for assistance. Former herders have become day labourers where work is available and rely on limited assistance where it is not.
Water must be fetched on foot from distant rivers, a walk of 40 minutes to an hour depending on a person’s strength. There are no pumps and no infrastructure. The water is shared with animals. No food distribution programs are operating. Wheat is the main staple, but supplies are unreliable and often unavailable.
“What causes the diseases is malnutrition, diarrhea and cold,” says Isaq. “This is because of the drought and the weakness it brings and diseases that go untreated.”
People are leaving for Somalia, Kenya, other parts of Ethiopia, Dolo Ado — wherever there is word of assistance.
Following an assessment led by the Somali Regional Health Bureau with support from MSF, our teams in Barey district are providing nutrition and water, sanitation and hygiene support to affected communities. The district sits along the border with Somalia, where the same rainfall failures have driven parallel displacement and food insecurity.
A well and what it changed
Three years ago, Tahliil Abdulahi Cali had 250 goats. Today, he has 100. The rest died as the rains failed, season after season, across his community in Somalia’s Mudug region.
“In the last three years, the rain patterns have changed unexpectedly,” says Cali. “The animals died, destroyed by the droughts. Life is so harsh.”
Tahliil’s community are pastoralists. Livestock is their only source of income: what they slaughter for food, sell for cash and pass on to their children. There are no industries and no alternative livelihoods. When the animals die, everything becomes precarious. Some of Tahliil’s children began showing signs of malnutrition. On good days, the family manages three meals. On others, they go without one.
“The services were very difficult for us to access before. We felt assisted because the children were vaccinated, the malnourished ones were given nutritional support and the family feels good.”
Tahliil Abdulahi Cali, a resident supported by MSF
Then the community’s borehole broke down. In a region where water is the difference between staying and fleeing, the breakdown was a critical loss. MSF rehabilitated it, restoring clean water access for Tahliil’s family and the community.
“We have been receiving water since MSF maintained this well for us,” he says.
MSF also provided therapeutic food for children suffering from acute malnutrition, alongside vaccinations for measles and other diseases. Before MSF’s presence, these services were largely out of reach.
“The services were very difficult for us to access before,” Tahliil says. “We felt assisted because the children were vaccinated, the malnourished ones were given nutritional support and the family feels good.”
The situation remains fragile. Cali is responsible for maintaining the well, but the resources to do so are not fully available. The water filtration system is damaged and needs repair. The community has no storage tank to buffer supply during dry spells. “We are requesting its maintenance to benefit the community,” he says.
In Mudug, MSF is providing water, sanitation and hygiene support to nearly 11,000 people across multiple locations, including borehole rehabilitation and hygiene kit distribution.
