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Ali Hussein camp is one of several large camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) on the edge of Burao town. Some people have come from Mogadishu and South Central Somalia to escape the conflict, others have come because of drought.

Mother-of-five Khadra Suleiman is struggling to cope with the rising cost of living in the camp – particularly the cost of food:

“We’ve been living here for seven years, since we returned from Ethiopia. We fled to Ethiopia during the civil war, which started in 1988. When the war finished we came home and ended up in this camp. But there are many challenges here.

“We are far from the centre of town and there is no water pipeline here – water is very limited. My husband goes into town every day to look for casual labour – construction, or loading and unloading trucks.

“He makes some money, but the price of food has gone up this year so it is getting harder to feed my family. Especially the price of sugar, rice and vegetables has become very expensive because of the drought.

“I used to buy 1kg of rice for $0.60 – now the same bag costs me $1. A kilo of sugar used to cost me $0.70, but now it is $1.30 from the same shop.

“I like to feed my children vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, onions and chillies. Tomatoes have doubled in price since January – a kilo used to cost me $0.50 but now it’s $1.

“So I buy much less food. A few months ago when I went to the market I would buy 1kg of rice, but now I usually only have enough money for half a kilo. My children eat far fewer vegetables. They used to eat four times a day – breakfast, lunch, dinner and a mid-morning snack at 10am. Now they only get two – just breakfast and lunch. In the evening we do not eat.

“I used to give them milk in the mornings, but now it is not available. Most shops no longer sell any milk at all – there are one or two places that still have it, but it’s too expensive for me to buy. Before we ate meat perhaps three times a week – now it is once a week at most. Sheep and goat meat used to cost $4 a kilo – now it is about $9.