As Drought Deepens, Baidoa's Displaced Face a Worsening Water and Sanitation Crisis

"My wife would stand in a line for water from early in the morning until eight at night,” Dahir Nur, 50, a former farmer now living in Elbeti 1 camp in Baidoa after drought forced his family from their village.

Baidoa, the interim capital of Somalia's Southwest State, is now home to an estimated 1.6 million people, nearly half of them are displaced people. Many have arrived in recent months, fleeing conflict and climate shocks in Bakool, Bay, Lower Shabelle, and other parts of the country. Most of them have fled devastating drought that has stripped families of water, food, and livelihoods.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs are among the most severe. Infrastructure is failing and water sources have dried up. Nationally, nearly one in five households lack reliable access to water, according to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. In Baidoa, displaced families pay $1.50–$2.50 for a 200-liter drum of trucked water, a cost many cannot afford. According to the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), two-thirds of households nationwide share unimproved latrines, and one in five reports that women and girls avoid using them due to safety concerns.

Drought, conflict and displacement are driving a severe water and sanitation crisis in Baidoa. Nearly half of the city's 1.6 million residents are displaced, while new arrivals from Bakool, Bay and Lower Shabelle continue to add pressure on already stretched systems, while 18% of households remain without reliable water access and pay US$1.50–2.50 for a 200-litre drum of trucked water.

Southwest State authorities declared a drought emergency on 18 November 2025 – and conditions have only deteriorated since. Just as needs continue to rise, funding cuts have forced humanitarian organisations to reduce or suspend services in Baidoa and elsewhere in the country, leaving Baidoa's displaced population without critical support and increasingly dependent on the limited assistance that remains.

An MSF-supported water point at Elbeti 1 IDP camp in Baidoa, Somalia. MSF trucks water to 17 sites across the city, including Elbeti 1, as part of its drought response.

An MSF-supported water point at Elbeti 1 IDP camp in Baidoa, Somalia. MSF trucks water to 17 sites across the city, including Elbeti 1, as part of its drought response.

“Life is very hard for us. You can understand a new displaced person in the camp, with no one to depend on. My daughter needs special care, including when she goes to the latrine. I couldn't care for her properly,” says Muna Ibrahim, a mother of two children with autism, who need constant attention. ​

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has scaled up water trucking and sanitation support to meet the emergency needs. Between December 2025 and June 2026, our teams delivered more than 47 million litres of safe water to 17 distribution sites, reaching 3,775 households from both host and displaced communities. ​ The response has also included building 150 solar-lit, permanent latrines with disability-friendly design across eight IDP camps, and desludging 26 latrines across five sites.

MSF teams are scaling up water trucking and sanitation support in response. From December 2025 to June 2026, more than 47 million litres of safe water were delivered to 17 distribution sites, targeting 3775 households from both host & IDP population, an operation that continues, while 150 latrines with solar lighting have been built across 8 IDP camps and 26 latrines desludged at 5 sites to improve conditions on the ground.

Muna Ibrahim arrived in Baidoa on the back of a truck that had been carrying potatoes, after leaving Kobe, a camp for Somali refugees in Ethiopia's Liban zone. Other organisations used to support her family when they were in the camps, but that support has completely stopped before she left.

“We used to fetch water from the river—people with donkey carts can haul it back, but everyone else has to carry it on their shoulders including me.” she says, "Since I arrived, MSF is the only organisation I have seen here providing us with water. Now we receive four jerrycans in the morning and four in the evening."

Needs across Bay region remain severe, and current capacity is insufficient to prevent the situation from worsening. MSF is calling on donors and humanitarian actors to urgently expand water trucking, latrine construction, and desludging services in Baidoa and across Southwest State. The gap between what is needed and what is funded is not inevitable – it is a choice. With every passing month, more families are pushed deeper into crisis.

WASH Needs on the ground in Bay region are severe, and there simply aren't enough hands to keep the situation from getting worse. Donors and humanitarian organizations need to put more funding into this region now.