As diplomats convene in London to discuss how to tackle east Africa’s drought and stave off famine, 4,000 miles away in Somalia, people leave homes in their thousands each day in search of water. That quest has brought some to Biyagadud dam, an oasis in the dust
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- Asha Muse has come to the dam from Sanaag region, in the far north, with her husband and three of their children. Across Somalia, more than 615,000 people have been forced from their homes by thirst and hunger since November 2016
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- Three years of waiting for rain that never arrived have hit centuries-old traditions of nomadic farming in Somalia, a country where seven in 10 people rely on animals or crops for their livelihoods. Pastoralists have been forced to travel far from their homes in a constant, poorly rewarded, search for water. In Somaliland, in the country’s north-west, once green pastures have been scorched to dust by the ongoing drought Photograph: UNDP/Dreamcatcher
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- The need to find clean water becomes more acute by the day. People dig and dig through dusty layers of dry earth in the hope of reaching a few inches of precious fluid below. The country is close to famine, with 6.2 million people – more than half the population – in need of aid, and 1.4 million children acutely malnourished Photograph: UNDP/Dreamcatcher
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- Cows, the pride of so many Somalian farmers, have simply died of thirst. Though cattle are used to dry conditions, the drought has killed off nearly 70% of livestock across Somalia. Their bones litter the landscape Photograph: UNDP/Dreamcatcher
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- Puntland, in north-east Somalia, is one of the regions worst affected. But a dam project, built just two years ago, is proving a life-saver, its waters drawing people into the area Photograph: UNDP/Dreamcatcher
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- The Biyagadud dam stores run-off water, providing vital resources to about 15,000 families and their animals. The project was initiated by the Somali government together with the United Nations Development Programme to improve resilience in a country highly vulnerable to climate change Photograph: Said Isse/UNDP
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- Before the dam was built, many local farmers had to spend what little income they had on buying in water from privately owned storage sites. The water from the Biyagadud dam is free Photograph: UNDP
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- Mohamed Ismail and his family have walked 600km to reach the dam. He first heard news of it in his village in northern Puntland. Hoping it was a true story, he and his children walked, herding their livestock with them Photograph: Said Isse/UNDP
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- Ismail began his journey with 150 goats. Only the small, hardy herd seen here remains; the remainder perished due to lack of water. The Gu rains, which normally fall between April and June, are beginning to make an impact, albeit small, in parts of the country. But the land is so parched that rainfall can cause its own problems, as indicated by reports of flash floods in the south-east Photograph: Said Isse/UNDP
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