As drought has ravaged 80% of Somalia, leaving more than two million people hungry and thirsty, Somali prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble announced a state of emergency and called for swift action.
“I am calling on all Somalis, including business leaders, religious leaders, diaspora community members and foreign partners, to help people impacted by the hunger,” he stated.
The situation is quite serious and an immediate response is required, according to the prime minister. Thousands of Somali pastoralists have lost cattle due to the growing drought.
Badia Moalim Osman is one of them, reported VOA News. She was relocated to Dhobley town in the Lower Jubba region, which was one of the hardest hit.
She claimed that the drought caused them to lose herds of livestock, leaving them with only two cows, both of which died in the famine.
Conflict hampers efforts
Due to unrest in parts of the country, United Nations (UN) organisations say their attempts to serve impacted individuals are hampered by a lack of resources and access.
Cindy Isaac is the deputy head of the office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Mogadishu. “The humanitarian partners and authorities in Somalia are really trying to scale up the responses mainly through water tracking, repairing boreholes and delivering food and health assistance to address the extraordinary critical water and food needs,” she said.
“However, the efforts have been significantly hampered due to the ongoing inadequate funding and access constraints in the areas affected by the conflict.”
Food insecurity is anticipated to rise dramatically until May 2022, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), with many households facing expanding food consumption disparities and degradation of their coping ability if expected rains fail again.
