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Give a gift that really matters with Trócaire’s selection of sustainable and ethical gifts
Fadhumo (32) tends to her garden after participating in Trócaire’s food security programme in Somalia. Photo: Trócaire
Mother-of-eight Fadhumo (32) is one of the millions of Somalis who have been forced to leave their home due to recurrent droughts in Somalia.
In 2016, Fadhumo and her family walked 19 kilometers from Dogob to Luuq after a severe drought hit their village.
“Before I moved here, I had 100 goats,” Fadhumo said. “I lost 90 goats to drought and came with 10 to Luuq. I sold the remaining 10 goats and used the proceeds to survive.”
Somalia experienced its worst drought on record from 2021 to 2023, with an unprecedented five consecutive failed rainy seasons that displaced millions of people and left many people unable to grow enough food to feed their families. More than six million people were facing acute food insecurity between April and June 2023.
People who were forced to flee their homes due to drought are now living in IDP camps in the Gedo region of Somalia. Photo: Trócaire
When Fadhumo and her husband reached the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Luuq, Somalia, they had no way to make an income or to provide for their family.
Fadhumo joined Trócaire and partner CeRID’s food security programme funded by Caritas Canada. The programme, which supported 150 women, provided training on resilient agricultural practices, along with seeds, farming tools and a piece of land to grow crops. Participants were also linked to alternative livelihood options and saving groups to improve access to income and credit.
After participating in the programme, Fadhumo now has her own garden and earns up to €280 every harvesting period. This allows her to provide food and an education for her children. She also looks after 14 members of her extended family.
In the future, Fadhumo now hopes to open a warehouse soon to sell her farm’s produce in wholesale.
This Christmas, you can help women like Fadhumo support her family with the ‘Gift of Seeds and Tools’ (€15). This sustainable gift provides families with fruit seeds, vegetable seeds plus tools like hoes and spades. These can provide families struggling to put food on the table with everything they need to plant, tend and grow healthy, nutritious, fresh fruit and vegetables.
You can also help families who are struggling with the effects of climate change with Trócaire’s ‘Climate Change Bundle’ Gift (€100). This gift will help struggling families defy the effects of extreme weather by providing drought-resistant seeds, equipment to store limited rainfall, plus trees that help to reduce flooding and enrich the soil.
This year, Trócaire’s gifts include favourites like beehives (€65) for drought-stricken farmers in the Horn of Africa to school kits (€30) and lunches (€20) for children across the world. With 22 to choose from, ranging from €5 to €1,400, each Trócaire gift will support critical work across the developing world.
The gifts can be purchased online at www.trocaire.org/gifts or by calling 1800 408 408.
