FSNAU Press Release

Issued February 1, 2010

Somalia: Continuing Humanitarian Crisis Affecting 42% of the Population

Results of a country-wide comprehensive inter-agency assessment, led by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FAO/FSNAU) with FEWSNET, confirm a widespread Humanitarian Crisis still persists in Somalia, with 42% of the population, or an estimated 3.2 million people, in need of emergency humanitarian assistance and/or livelihood support.

“Although we are seeing some positive indicators in terms of the lifting of the livestock export ban and improved crop and livestock production in southern parts of the country, the food security and nutrition situation in central regions remains in Crisis, where 70% of the population require assistance”, says Grainne Moloney, the interim Chief Technical Advisor of the Somalia FSNAU.  “More worrying is that recent escalating conflict and displacements are also occurring in central regions. This creates a double burden for drought affected populations, having to support those recently displaced, yet with reduced access to assistance from aid agencies due to the insecurity”.

Emergency levels of acute malnutrition continue to be reported, with 1 in 6 children in Somalia acutely malnourished and in need of specialist care. Of these children, 1 in 22 is severely malnourished and at a 9 times increased risk of death compared to well nourished children.  However in south and central Somalia the rates are higher, with 1 in 5 children acutely malnourished of which 1 in 20 are acutely malnourished. These national rates of acute malnutrition continue to be amongst the highest in the world.  Currently, these rates translate into an estimated 240,000 children under 5 years of age in Somalia being acutely malnourished, of which 63,000 are severely malnourished.  More than two thirds of these children are located in south and central Somalia, the area’s most affected by the current conflict. With 1 in 5 children also chronically malnourished, therefore unable to reach their development potential, long-term integrated responses combining nutritional rehabilitation with promotion of optimal infant and young child feeding practices and increasing access to safe water and health services, are the only way to address this Nutrition Crisis.

Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) continue to be the largest single population group in crisis, representing 44% of the total 3.2 million, and with the ongoing conflict in the country this number is likely to continue to remain high and even increase further. The nutritional status of IDPs is also of great concern, with even higher rates of chronic malnutrition reported, where 1 in 4 children are affected, compared to the national figure.

However, some good indications are reported for agricultural areas in the south, where a bumper harvest will increase food availability and accessibility to many households including poor urban households. This has resulted in a reduction of the rural population in crisis by 15% from 6 months ago.

Of particular concern are the populations in crisis in the north, the result of a drought following 4 seasons of below average rainfall. This has left 290,000 pastoral and agro-pastoral populations in crisis and in need of both life saving and livelihood support to recover.

In summary the population in crisis include 1.25 million rural people affected by a severe drought, 555,000 urban poor who continue to struggle with very high food and non-food prices, and 1.39 million internally displaced people (IDPs) who are fleeing from the conflict (see IPC Map).  The epicentre of the humanitarian crisis continues to be in Mudug, Galgadud and Hiran regions of south and central Somalia, due to the ongoing drought and civil unrest which has left 70% of the population in those regions in Crisis. In these regions, livestock herds have been decimated due to 6 consecutive seasons of below average rainfall and destitute pastoralists are gathering in main villages and towns in search of assistance. In order for these populations to recover, a combination of expanded lifesaving and livelihood support is required urgently at scale.

All efforts to ensure sufficient resources and humanitarian space for aid agencies to provide the much needed life saving and/or livelihood support interventions, are key to prevent further deterioration in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

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Click this link to download the pdf  Somali version of the Press Release (.pdf 608KB)