160% increase in people suffering "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity due to drought in Somalia

Nearly half of the population is in this situation after four unsuccessful rainy seasons

MADRID, 7 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations has warned that the number of people facing "catastrophic levels" of food insecurity in Somalia due to drought has increased by 160 percent and has warned that "the risk of famine is greater than ever", for which he has demanded that the international community increase the delivery of aid to the African country.

A new report by the Famine Early Warning Network and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food Security and Nutrition Analysts Unit has indicated that 7.1 million Somalis, nearly half of the population, are facing levels of food insecurity after four failed rainy seasons and in the face of drastic price increases.

Thus, the document states that 213,000 people face "catastrophic hunger and famine", a figure higher than the 81,000 projected in April, with more areas at risk of famine, especially in the south of the country, where insecurity and conflict make it difficult further humanitarian access.

The FAO representative, Etiene Peterschmitt, lamented that "the necessary support has not materialized and hundreds of thousands of Somalis face the real risk of famine and death." "It is a tragedy to see the level of distress being experienced by rural communities particularly and we are limited in what we can do to prevent this extraordinary suffering," she said.

Peterschmitt has called on the international community to "act quickly while there is still some hope to avoid the collapse of livelihoods", which would generate "a potential massive displacement of the population from rural areas to displacement camps and widespread famine in Somalia". .

"We are witnessing a potential calamity. A failure to act now will be tragic for many families in Somalia," said Adam Abdelmoula, UN humanitarian coordinator in Somalia. "Somalia is in danger of entering an unprecedented fifth failed rainy season, putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of famine," he warned.

"Famine cost the lives of 260,000 Somalis between 2010 and 2011. This cannot be allowed to happen again in 2022. It is urgent that more be done to avoid this risk, and that it be done now," he stressed. The UN and its partners are focusing their resources on famine prevention to protect the most vulnerable.

However, Somali families are facing increasing problems from rising prices, in part because of the impact of the war in Ukraine on the supply chain, which has caused prices in some areas to rise between a 140 and 160 percent, as well as the death of nearly three million head of cattle since mid-2021 due to drought.

"We must act immediately to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe. The lives of the most vulnerable are already at risk from malnutrition and hunger and we cannot wait for a declaration of famine to act," said the director of the World Food Program (WFP). ) in Somalia, El Khidir Daloum.

"It's a race against the clock to avert famine and WFP is ramping up wherever possible, prioritizing our limited resources to save those most at risk, but these numbers show there is an urgent need for more resources to deal with the deepening of this hunger crisis", he argued.

Figures compiled through May suggest that 1.5 million children under the age of five will be acutely malnourished by the end of the year, including 386,400 who are likely to be severely malnourished, an increase of 55,000 children from previous estimates.

For this reason, the representative of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Angela Kearney, who has indicated that "it is a crisis for children". "It's not just about water or nutrition, but about children losing their education, leaving them vulnerable to child protection issues and poor health, which impacts their future," she explained. "We are treating the children, but we need more funding to prevent famine and protect the future of all Somali children," she concluded.

The new president of Somalia, Hasan Sheikh Mohamud, appointed Abdirahman Abishakur at the end of May as the new special envoy to deal with the drought, the worst in the last 40 years, which has caused a deepening of the serious humanitarian crisis that the African country is going through.

The Prime Minister, Mohamed Hussein Roble, decreed a state of emergency at the end of 2021 and in April called for international aid in the face of the worsening drought. Thus, he stressed that around seven million people have been affected by the crisis and lamented that "three consecutive rainy seasons have been a failure, which has caused the destruction of fields and livestock."