Somalia is staring at a worsening hunger crisis as the United Nations food agency warns it will be forced to cut emergency rations for hundreds of thousands due to a lack of funds.
The World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday that its assistance will drop dramatically, cutting the number of recipients from 1.1 million in August to just 350,000 by November. The agency blamed “critical funding shortfalls” for the reduction.
“We are seeing a dangerous rise in emergency levels of hunger, and our ability to respond is shrinking by the day,” said Ross Smith, WFP’s director of emergency preparedness and response. “Without urgent funding, families already pushed to the edge will be left with nothing at a time when they need it most.”
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The latest U.N. assessment shows that 4.6 million Somalis are battling crisis levels of food insecurity, including 1.8 million children who are expected to suffer acute malnutrition this year. Of those, 421,000 face severe malnutrition. So far, the WFP has reached only about 180,000 children.
The situation is compounded by decades of conflict, insecurity, and the grip of al-Shabab militants over parts of the country. On top of this, climate disasters, alternating droughts and floods, continue to devastate harvests and livelihoods.
The crisis has been made worse by cuts in U.S. foreign aid, which further strained humanitarian groups already unable to match the rising demand for relief.
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The WFP estimates in a report that it will require $98 million to “sustain a minimum of life-saving operations for 800,000 people through the lean season until March 2026.”
