Somalia faces worst famine in half a century, UN warns

The United Nations says Somalia faces famine on a scale last seen half a century ago.

An estimated 7.8 million people – roughly half of the population – are now affected by drought, of whom 213,000 are at high risk of famine.

It has therefore set a new target of more than $2bn in funding needs for the country.

Somalia has suffered four successive failures in its rainy seasons since the end of 2020, and there are fears that a fifth failure is now under way.

Over the past two years, the drought has killed millions of livestock and destroyed crops.

A spokesman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva said estimates of the needs for fighting hunger in Somalia had soared since the start of the year, from $1.46bn to $2.26bn, of which 80 percent was required to fight the impact of drought.

The revised plan would reach 7.6 million people, compared with the earlier target of 5.5 million, Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesman, said.

He warned that famine is projected in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts in Bay Region between this month and December if humanitarian assistance does not reach people most in need.