Thousands of displaced people in southwest Somalia could face famine between October and December if flooding linked to El Niño becomes worse than expected and humanitarian assistance remains inadequate, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The IPC said about 26,000 displaced people in Baidoa, one of Somalia’s largest cities, could face extreme hunger, starvation and the loss of livelihoods during the period. Baidoa hosts hundreds of thousands of people displaced by conflict and food shortages.
More than 5 million Somalis, representing about 26% of the population assessed, are already experiencing crisis level food insecurity or worse following repeated droughts, conflict and shortages in humanitarian funding. The figure is projected to rise to 5.4 million between October and December.
Humanitarian assistance is expected to reach only about 70,400 people each month during the period, equivalent to roughly 1.3% of those estimated to need support.
The IPC also estimates that 1.92 million children aged six months to five years will require treatment for acute malnutrition by June 2027, including about 433,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Somalia last experienced a famine in 2011, when an estimated 250,000 people died. The country narrowly avoided famine in 2017 and again in 2022.
Leave a comment