Mogadishu: Over 5.4 million Somali people are food insecure, with 1.2 million children projected to be malnourished owing to hunger induced drought, the United Nations has warned.
Somalia faces a severe drought severe drought, due to poor 2019 Gu’ (April-June) rains and of harsh weather conditions during the dry Jilaal season (January-March).
Water scarcity, widespread crop failure and accelerated decline in livestock productivity have seen communities slide into acute food insecurity or worse, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned.
“Consequently, the number of people in acute food insecurity (Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) IPC 3 and 4) has spiked by ten per cent, to more than 1.7 million the number is expected to reach 2.2 million by July,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
“The Humanitarian Country Team is preparing a 2019 Drought Response Plan to mobilize resources and to address food insecurity in the most severely affected areas.
“The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), which seeks $1.08 billion, is critically under-funded at only 19 per cent. The total resources provided this year ($254 million).”
