Unable to wait for help from ###### own government or the international community ###### they face the prospect of a ######, Somalis at home and abroad are ###### to one another for support.

The ###### clan network is the bedrock of ###### society as well as its safety ######. Combining this network with modern social ######, communities are using WhatsApp to sponsor ###### families and raise funds to buy ###### life-saving supplies.]]>
"This is the first ###### this has been done, because of ###### level of desperation," says Jamal Abdi ######. He scrolls through a group on ###### app set up by members of ###### clan, showing how each member has ###### to donate money.

Based on the ###### that one family needs approximately $60 ###### month, members of the group decide ###### many families they can sponsor.]]>
Providing The Basics

A committee of five people withdraws ###### money from the account and buys ###### for the sponsored families – usually ######, powdered milk and water.

"Initially, people ###### drawn on their own coping mechanisms ###### the drought," says Sarman, who works ###### an international aid agency.

"But now @@'@ just too big for them to ######.]]>
"The ###### groups were organized by one person ###### it just took off, snowballing. Someone ###### me, and then I added another.]]>
Prominent in the widening ###### are those with roots in Somali, ###### are spread all over the world.]]>
The Need To Go Outside The Clan For Help

######, smaller clans with less expansive networks ###### fewer connections outside the country are ###### to face more of a struggle ###### rely solely on aid agencies for ######.

Humanitarian organizations have been warning that @.@ million Somalis are on the brink ###### famine.]]>
Foreign ###### of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, ###### Ali Shire, says that immediate relief ###### the form of food, water and ###### is needed quickly. "Otherwise we will ###### looking at a very dire situation."

###### from approaches such as the WhatsApp ######, Somalis have also been helping each ###### in more traditional ways.]]>
An hour's drive through parched and ###### land outside Somaliland's second largest city, ######, Barre Mohamed shows off the tiny ###### oasis of crops he has grown. ###### used a homemade irrigation system on ###### piece of farmland he manages for ###### local landowner.]]>
Aiding Pastoral Families Mohamed, 35, is from the Bantu ###### in the south of Somalia, and, ###### his wealth of agricultural knowledge, he ###### also helping dozens of pastoral families ###### have congregated nearby in a camp ###### displaced people. The farm shares water ###### them from a tank, and food, ###### daily life is still a struggle.

"###### can only spare so much, and ###### pipes have worn and need to ###### replaced because they are leaking. The ###### is dying," he says, gesturing toward ###### rusting structure, which stores water drawn ###### a borehole 500 meters (1,640 feet) ######.]]>
Mohamed remains intensely proud of ###### crops he has cultivated against the ######, pointing to guava, tamarind and orange ######, as well as rows of tomato ######.]]>
Gathering Where There Was More Rainfall

To Somaliland's ######, meanwhile, small numbers of people with ###### remaining animals have arrived in villages ###### as Carro Malko in the Gabiley ###### – an area that was once ###### regional food basket. There was more ###### here than in other areas last ######, so local farmers have a small ###### of fodder and grass.

A village ###### has been organizing the care of ###### new arrivals, explains Alice Ennals, of ###### Development Fund, a Norwegian nonprofit group ###### to support small-scale farmers.]]>
"This ###### how pastoral societies function – they ###### dependent on mutual support. No one ###### questioning it. The next drought might ###### Carro Malko more severely, and then ###### have to send their herds and ###### to eastern parts."]]>