Severe Famine in Somalia
Somalia, a country ravaged by the long-lasting civil war, is once again on the verge of famine because of the war in Ukraine and “the worst drought for four decades” which has gripped the country since October 2020, according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). In 2011, more than 250,000 people are believed to have died in Somalia because of famine, resulting in years of recovery from the aftermath. “The situation is worsening in rural areas following consecutive seasons of poor rainfall and low river water levels. These have resulted in near total crop failures, reduced rural employment opportunities, widespread shortage of water and pasture—with consequent increases in livestock deaths,” reported by WFP. It is said that “harvests of cereals such as sorghum are well below long-term averages,” which would increase the food prices dramatically. There is no doubt that the crop failure, the losses and the inferior quality of livestock is gradually depriving people’s access to milk and food, aggravating poverty in some areas.
Moreover, the war in Ukraine induced ripple effects. On one hand, the war diminishes Somalia’s imports of crops, leading to higher local staple food prices. WFP Somalia Representative and Country Director El-Khidir Daloum said recently, as 85% of wheat is imported from Russia and Ukraine, the wheat prices has soared by 160% in a month.
On the other hand, Somalia’s over-dependence on emergency food aid, much of which done through cash transfers, leaves it “highly vulnerable to market fluctuations”, according to the Guardian. Reported by WFP, “as of May 2018, 2.7 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements today and require urgent humanitarian assistance, with more than half a million on the brink of famine. Another 2.7 million Somalis need livelihood support to keep from sliding into crisis.” Therefore, it could be disastrous when the funding has been devalued. Petroc Wilton, a spokesperson for WFP, says “Any major impact on the purchasing power of the people that we serve due to sudden price changes is a real concern, particularly in context of this very, very severe drought.”
In a statement carried by the National Herald, “the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on April 12 that a perfect storm of poverty, skyrocketing food prices and huge funding shortfalls leaves almost 40% of Somalis on the brink, Xinhua news agency reported.”
In the long run, the sluggish economy may drag more people into poverty if enormous numbers of children suffer from either acute or chronic malnutrition. Estimated by WFP, “about 300,000 children under age 5 are malnourished, including 48,000 who are severely malnourished and face a high risk of disease and death.” Children are the future labour force and play a vital role in anchoring economic growth in Somalia.
To avert famine, emergency assistance using both cash transfers and food rations might be beneficial in the short term. In the past, “WFP provided specialized nutritious foods to 631,000 pregnant and lactating women and girls and children aged 6-59 months to prevent and treat moderate acute malnutrition. Through the homegrown school feeding, WFP assisted 116,000 boys and girls in 369 schools. Schoolchildren received hot meals prepared from locally sourced diverse and nutritious foods, helping them meet their food and nutrition needs,” which not only relieved children’s health problems, but also elevated school attendance. To enhance vocational training, some food rations were provided “in return for business training or work on projects that strengthen community livelihoods, infrastructure and the environment. This includes building new assets such as water catchments, dams and shallow wells, and fighting soil erosion and restoring degraded land. This helps communities recover from crises such as drought and improves resilience to future disasters.”
In the long run, it is of desperate need to introduce sanitation for unsafe water, and new farming technology that fits the arid lands. Sending experts in agriculture to Somalia for research on accelerating productivity of seeds might be helpful. For instance, with the support of the South-South Cooperation Programme and FAO, Royda, a farmer in Uganda who owns 150 acres of land, received prolific elephant grass seeds, and acquired agricultural skills as for making and storing fresh forage, boosting milk production in dairy cows and coping with potential droughts. Thus, a lawn mower was provided to reduce labour intensity in the farm. After all, healthy homegrown commodities are the fundamental prerequisite for sustainable economic growth.
By Jennifer Liu
