Farhio Mohamed Hussein
I stuck it out because I believe women as well as men need to bring Somalia’s difficulties into the open, however difficult it may be.
Farhio Mohamed Hussein has been a journalist for a decade. She began her career at Aman Radio and Hatuf Radio while studying for her degree in Journalism and Mass Communication at Mogadishu's Modern University for Science and Technology. She later worked as a producer and editor for Dalsan Media Group and BBC Media Action.
In April 2022 she became one of the six women with whom Bilan Media — Somalia's first and only all-women newsroom — was founded. In December 2025 she was appointed its Editor-in-Chief.
Many of her female colleagues, she says, have left the profession because of harassment and a lack of opportunities. She stayed.
"So many of my female colleagues have left journalism because of harassment and a lack of opportunities. But I stuck it out because I believe women as well as men need to bring Somalia's difficulties into the open, however difficult it may be."
Farhio is passionate about covering climate change and its impact on communities — especially rural women. Media reports about Somali women, she notes, tend to focus on those in urban areas and displacement camps. She wants to tell a different story: of women who run businesses in the countryside, who support their families by farming their land, selling produce and setting up small enterprises.
Her aim is to highlight their achievements and to challenge the stereotypes that too often portray rural Somali women only as victims of drought, floods and conflict — moving the frame away from loss, and towards the lives they are building.
Her journey, so far
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The beginning
Studies Journalism & Mass Communication at Mogadishu's Modern University for Science and Technology, reporting for Aman Radio and Hatuf Radio.
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On air
Works as a producer and editor for Dalsan Media Group and BBC Media Action, building ten years of newsroom experience.
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April 2022
Becomes one of the six women who found Bilan Media, Somalia's first and only all-women newsroom.
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Her beat
Reports on climate change and rural women — farmers, traders and entrepreneurs — challenging the stereotypes of loss and drought.
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December 2025
Appointed Editor-in-Chief of Bilan Media, leading the newsroom she helped to build.
"I want to tell the stories of women who run businesses in the countryside, who support their families by farming their land, selling produce and setting up small enterprises." Farhio Mohamed Hussein — Editor-in-Chief, Bilan Media
Changing how Somali women are seen
As one of Bilan's six founders and now its Editor-in-Chief, Farhio has made it her mission to move rural Somali women out of the margins of the news. Too often reported only as victims of drought, floods and war, they are — in her stories — farmers, traders and entrepreneurs building lives and livelihoods against the odds. Covering climate change and its uneven impact on rural communities, she reports the resilience the headlines usually miss.
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