By: Daud Abdi Daud “Jourd”

Over 4.1 million people across Somalia, or 26 percent of the total population, need urgent humanitarian food assistance to prevent food consumption gaps or the accelerated depletion of livelihood assets indicative of Crisis or worse outcomes through mid-2022. The key drivers of acute food insecurity in Somalia include the combined effects of consecutive seasons of poor and erratic rainfall distribution and conflict. Moreover, approximately 1.4 million children, or over 44 percent of the children in Somalia under the age of five are likely to be acutely malnourished, including nearly 329,500 who are likely to be severely malnourished.

According to the Southwest regional State of Somalia’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management (MoHADM) as it warned on Tuesday of the devastating outlook for millions of affected Somalis, amidst heightened risks of famine. The Minister Hon. Abdinasir Abdi Arush held several consultation meetings in Baidoa, Mogadishu and Nairobi

He said that around 1.4 million children were facing “acute malnutrition this year, and 330,000 are likely to become severely malnourished”.

“Currently, the situation is extremely dire and grim: 7.1 million people are going to be affected by this drought situation, especially for internally displaced people (IDP) in the Baidoa district of Somalia’s South West State. He added

The number of people affected by drought has risen from 4.9 million in March to about 6.1 million in April, of whom nearly 760,000 are displaced and in urgent need of shelter, food, water, and access to services such as health. (OCHA, 20 Apr 2022).