The United Nations has warned that Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade, and that time was running out to save lives in the drought-stricken country.
Addressing a press conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu, visiting UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said the unprecedented failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, decades of conflict, mass displacement, severe economic issues are pushing many people to the brink of famine.”
Griffiths said there are concrete indications that famine will strike Baidoa and Burhakaba in the Bay region of south-central Somalia between October and December.
Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops.
Humanitarian agencies have been ringing alarm bells for months and say the situation across the Horn of Africa — including Kenya and Ethiopia — is likely to deteriorate with a likely fifth failed rainy season in the offing.
UN agencies say In Somalia alone, about 7.8 million people or half the population face crisis hunger levels, including about 213,000 in danger of famine.
Around one million have fled their homes on a desperate quest for food and water.
Griffiths said the situation was worse than during Somalia’s last famine in 2011 when 260,000 people died, more than half of them children under the age of six.
He described scenes of heart-rending suffering during a visit to Baidoa, describing it as the epicentre of the crisis where he saw “children so malnourished they could barely speak” or cry.
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