'Famine at the door' in Somalia, UN warns

The United Nations warned on Monday that parts of Somalia would be hit by famine this year.

It would be Somalia's second famine in just under a decade.

What did the UN say?

"Famine is at the door," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said at a news conference in Mogadishu.

"The unprecedented failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, decades of conflict, mass displacement, severe economic issues are pushing many people to... the  brink of famine," he said.

"We are in the last moment of the 11th hour to save lives."

Griffiths said the famine would hit parts of the southern-central regions of Baidoa and Burhakaba between October and December.

He said that the situation was now worse than during a 2011 famine that killed 260,000 people, mostly children.

Worst drought in more than 40 years

Somalia and neighboring countries in eastern Africa are suffering their worst drought in more than 40 years after four failed rainy seasons. The drought has wiped out livestock and crops.

Humanitarian agencies have said this is likely to become more severe, with the next rainy season also likely to fail.

In Somalia alone, UN agencies say the number of people facing crisis hunger levels is 7.8 million, which is around half the population. Around a million have fled their homes to search for food and water, UN agencies say.

The UN's humanitarian office said that the March-May 2022 rainy season was the driest on record in the last 70 years. It said that 2020-2022 surpassed droughts in 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 both in terms of duration and severity.

This coincides with high food prices and dry summers in much of the northern hemisphere, putting further pressure on global food markets amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The al-Shabab insurgency, which has been raging for over a decade, is also limiting humanitarian access in many areas of Somalia.

sdi/msh (AFP, Reuters)