Hope, backed by support: Unconditional cash assistance helps a widow in Somalia’s Jowhar district recover after drought and flooding

In Buur Fuule village, water shapes everyday life. When there is enough, families can farm, feed their children and plan for the future. When it runs short, livelihoods are quickly affected.

For Rukia Sayid Mukhtar, a mother of 13 children, the toll has been heavy. After losing her husband, she became the sole provider for her family. Since then, drought and flooding have repeatedly disrupted her efforts to grow food and earn an income.

“The drought affected us through lack of water and lack of rain,” she explains. “When the river dries and there is no rain, there is nothing you can cultivate.”

^{August 2026. Buur Fuule, Jowhar. Portrait of Rukia Sayid Mukhtar outside her home in Buur Fuule village, Jowhar district, Somalia.} 

Like many smallholder farmers in the area, Rukia relies on seasonal rainfall and the nearby river to grow crops. Prolonged dry spells left her land unproductive, affecting both the food available to her family and her income. Then, just as her crops needed rain, the rain came all at once. Floodwaters swept across her farm before the harvest could begin. 

“I had already cultivated my land and was expecting the crops to grow,” she recalls. “Then the water came and flooded everything. The farm was damaged, and the water stayed there for some time.”

The loss left Rukia with nothing to harvest, little to fall back on and her children struggling to meet their basic needs.

^{August 2026. Buur Fuule, Jowhar. Rukia Sayid Mukhtar checks a mobile money transfer while holding food purchased with FAO cash assistance funded by the Government of Sweden (Sida). ©FAO/Arete/Hassan Shurbe}

Thanks to funding from the Government of Sweden, FAO provided Rukia with unconditional cash assistance, two payments sent directly to her mobile phone that helped her meet immediate needs while beginning to rebuild her livelihood. She used the first payment to buy food for her family. With the second, she bought one sheep and three chickens and covered essential household expenses, including water, medicine, and other basic needs.

“The assistance was very helpful,” she says. “Whether it was small or large, it made a difference for us.”

The cash gave Rukia the flexibility to decide how best to use the support as her family recovered from the effects of drought and flooding.

The unconditional cash assistance – which families could use according to their most urgent needs – reached 3 166 vulnerable households, representing nearly 19 996 people in Jowhar and neighbouring Qansax Dheere. Households were identified through community consultations and vulnerability assessments, with priority given to those most affected by drought, including female-headed households and households with persons with disabilities. Each household received three monthly payments of USD 55, for a total of USD 165 during the project duration.

Across rural Somalia, drought and flooding continue to disrupt farming and strain livelihoods. Flexible support, such as cash assistance, helps families meet immediate needs while protecting or rebuilding their sources of income.

Recovery, however, is far from complete.

The livestock Rukia purchased has given her a small but important asset. She hopes to expand her herd and return to farming when conditions allow.

For a household that lost crops to both drought and flooding, these are meaningful steps towards restoring a source of food and income.

With continued support, Rukia hopes to build on these gains and create a more secure future for her children.

_{August 2026. Buur Fuule, Jowhar. Rukia Sayid Mukhtar checks a mobile money transfer as she holds food bought with FAO cash assistance funded by the Government of Sweden (Sida). ©FAO/Arete/Hassan Shurbe}