According to the UN there is enough evidence to suggest Somalia is on the brink of famine Photo United Nations
Somalia – The UN Humanitarian Chief, Martin Griffith, warned that Somalia is on the brink of famine. On the 5th of September, at a press conference in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, the UN Chief announced that ‘’there is concrete evidence that famine will occur in parts of Somalia between October and December.’’
Over the past four years, the Horn of Africa experienced a drought that has caused food shortages in the region. The eastern Horn consists of three neighbouring countries, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, the latter the most vulnerable.
The last famine that occurred in Somalia took the lives of 250,000 people, with half that number being children.
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What caused the famine?
Amongst the contributing factors to the famine, is climate change in the region. For four years, the eastern Horn experienced a dry rainy season. As a result, herders have lost livestock at an alarming rate. The dry environment promised poor harvests for farmers, combined with the rise in food prices, which the war in eastern Europe largely exacerbated.
Amir Sheikh, the Chairperson of the Somali Community Board in South Africa, mentions that food prices have risen, in Somalia, to the point where people cannot afford necessities.
‘’Today, the food prices have actually grown higher than expected. To an extent that a 20kg of rice that was 20 USD before the Ukraine-Russian war is now actually 80 USD in the market of Mogadishu of which many cannot really afford.’’
According to the UN Chief, the crisis is not primarily caused by climate change. However, it is also attributed to years of civil disorder within the region. Civil war has placed a barrier between relief organisations and communities needing help, resulting in mass migration to significant cities and ill-equipped and crowded camps.
’’Decades of conflict, mass displacement and severe economic issues are pushing many people to the brink of famine’’. All of which is what contributed to the humanitarian crisis a decade ago.
The UN food program estimates that nearly 20 million people in the eastern Horn are at risk of severe hunger. Since the start of the year, many have succumbed to malnutrition, starvation and disease. With the rise in food prices, limited access to healthcare and the expectation of a fifth year without rain, experts predict the famine to be worse than it was in 2011.
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Relief efforts in Somalia not nearly enough
While there is an already established global network of humanitarian relief from NGOs and government agencies in and around Somalia that contribute money, medication, food parcels, and clean water. It is unimaginable that much more is needed to avert the imminent crisis, yet it is. That said, Somalia requires assistance at a much larger scale than before.
Speaking to Salaamedia’s Julie Alli, Sheikh is grateful for the number of organisations helping Somalia from 2002 until now.
While he commended South African organisations and communities in their relief efforts, he stressed the importance of prayer as there is no way to avert the upcoming calamity unless immediate action is taken.
‘’I think our first priority at this time is to make sure that we save [lives] because even if we save one life, it means that we have saved all humanity. So that at least no one dies of hunger in Somalia and many areas of the Muslim world… We actually pray to Allah to actually remove this calamity’’
In a post-covid world where most economies have not fully recovered, and with the rise in oil prices, inflation and civil unrest spiked. There is a growing dread that the help Somalia needs might be miles short of just enough as most countries look inward.
