New York, 14 December 2022 (TDI): According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Somalia is at severe risk of famine.
The UN stated that Somalia is suffering from famine on a level not experienced in the country in more than 50 years.
United Nations has also set a new goal of more than $2 billion in financing requirements. Famine was prevented in the months of October and December of this year.
However, by April and June of 2023, 8.3 million people are estimated to experience a Crisis or even severe levels of food insecurity.
As humanitarian aid is declining due to financial issues, more than 700,000 people are experiencing famine-like conditions or grave food insecurity.
Causes of the famine
Since the end of 2020, Somalia has experienced four consecutive rainy season failures. Moreover, there are concerns that a fifth failure is already occurring.
According to the UN, the drought is currently affecting an estimated 7.8 million people, or around half of the population, of whom 213,000 are at a high risk of becoming hungry.
In certain places, crops can’t grow much at all. The camel, goat, and cattle herds of Somali herders lack sufficient vegetation to eat and readily available water to drink. the present drought has already claimed millions of animals.
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Climate change is also a major cause of this ongoing dearth of rainfall. After Niger, Somalia is considered to be one of the countries most sensitive to the negative effects of climate change.
As a result, Somalia is projected to face more drought. This will affect a larger portion of the country and result in fewer regular rainy seasons.
It is difficult to cope with the great hardships of a protracted drought. Especially, if there is little to no safety net in place to help people out when things are tough. In fact, current food prices are greater than they were in 2011.
