Five million Somalis do not have enough food to eat, UN says

Five million Somalis which is more than 40 per cent of the country’s population, do not have sufficient food, UN report said on Tuesday.

The report said among them are over 300,000 children under five who are acutely malnourished, including more than 50,000 children who are severely malnourished and more vulnerable than any other group.

UN said this an increase of 300,000 people who are food insecure since the last review in February 2016.

“The situation is of serious concern and comes at a time when we are already facing multiple drivers of needs, including drought and risk of flooding, conflict and access constraints – as well as increased refugee returns,” the UN said in a statement.

“Humanitarian partners are ready to scale up response to help families struggling to find food to make it through the day,” said Peter de Clercq, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

“The Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is 32 per cent funded and additional resources are urgently required to boost response and on-going efforts to sustainably address malnutrition and access to food, including support to comprehensive durable solutions.”

Thousands of Somali refugees from Kenya’s Dadaab Camb have returned to the country amid over half million IDPs are facing lack of food and clean water.

According to the FAO-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), more than 1.1 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements today, while another 3.9 million Somalis require livelihood support to reduce the risk of sliding into crisis.

“The simple truth is that today in Somalia, the weight of climate vulnerability, conflict and displacements is greater than the counterweight of people’s resilience,” Richard Trenchard, the FAO’s Somalia officer, told a press conference.