In Ethiopia's Somali Region, Women Build Businesses and Resilience to Climate Change

Apr 25, 2024 | Elshaday Gebeyehu
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Sadiya starts her day early by letting out her goats from her backyard barn at Bokolmayo refugee camp, a collection of makeshift houses in Ethiopia’s Somali region. Whistling cheerfully, she leads them first to a water point nearby, then farther away to find a good grazing spot amid the cracked land. 


With her flowing blue robes, the 25-year-old refugee from Somalia is a rare sight among pastoralists who dominate this slice of eastern Ethiopia, where men traditionally oversee livestock rearing. 

“It is not easy to be in this business as a woman,” says Sadiya. (As a refugee, her last name is withheld). “When we started, many people told us not to waste our time and money as we would surely fail.”