Somalia faces acute food insecurity for 6 million people

Six million people in Somalia are facing acute food insecurity due to a combination of drought, conflict, and population displacement. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reports that it currently possesses only one-tenth of the resources it had in 2022, a period when the agency successfully helped prevent famine in the nation.

During a visit to a nutrition center near Mogadishu, WFP Executive Director Carl Skau stated that the agency is currently limited to providing the “bare minimum” of assistance, focusing primarily on the most severely affected children. Funding shortages are attributed to international aid cuts and the redirection of resources toward other global humanitarian crises.

The WFP projects that 1.9 million children under the age of five in Somalia will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, with approximately 500,000 requiring urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition. Currently, about 30% of the Somali population faces critical levels of food insecurity.