MOGADISHU (Halbeeg News) – Over 2.1 million Somali people in the horn of Africa nation are on brink to face an acute food insecurity Crisis or even worse outcomes through December 2020, a new report said.
Report on Wednesday by Food Security and Nutrition Unit (FSNAU), a project managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the report said the crisis expected to occur “through December 2020 in the absence of humanitarian assistance,” is due to “the combined effects of widespread and severe flooding, Desert Locust infestation, socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 and the cumulative impacts of previous shocks,”
“In addition, 849,900 children under the age of five are likely to be acutely malnourished through August 2021,” the report read. “From October to December, food insecurity is expected to deteriorate among poor households with limited livestock or low capacity to cope with harvest losses,” the report warned.
The report went on to warn that an additional 3 million people in the east African country “are expected to be Stressed (IPC Phase 2), bringing the total number of people facing acute food insecurity to 5.1 million.”
“2020 Gu cereal production in southern Somalia is estimated at 74,000 tons. This is 40 percent lower than the long-term average for 1995-2019. The main factors for below-average 2020 Gu cereal production include: recurrent and severe flooding, erratic rainfall and a prolonged dry spell, insecurity and conflict,” FSNAU explained.
Population groups classified as Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse require interventions aimed at reducing food consumption gaps, eradicating acute malnutrition, saving lives, and protecting and saving livelihoods.
The following are considered areas of concern and are in need of urgent nutrition and health support interventions. They currently have or are projected to have a Critical GAM prevalence, indicated by a weight-for-height z-score of 15-29.9% or by a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference below 125 mm of 10%: East Golis Pastoral, Bosasso IDPs, Garowe IDPs, Galkacyo IDPs, Hiran rural, Beletweyne urban, Shabelle Riverine, Mogadishu IDPs, Bosasso IDPs, Baidoa IDPs, Juba Riverine.
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