Somalia

Somalia is facing one of its most complex hunger crises in years, as conflict, displacement, funding cuts and climate shocks converge to devastating effect. High prices linked to the Middle East crisis are also fuelling the emergency.

One third of Somalia’s population – 6 million people – is facing acute hunger or worse, including nearly 2 million people in emergency levels of hunger

Families already weakened by drought now face the threat of floods, while insecurity continues to disrupt livelihoods, markets, access to services and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Forecasts indicate a prolonged dry period through October, followed by an elevated risk of extensive flooding during the October-December Deyr season – linked to a strong El Niño phenomenon.

The risk of famine has been identified in Burhakaba district, where acute malnutrition has reached alarming levels and nearly 40 percent of children under 5 are acutely malnourished or worse.

In fact, Somalia remains one of the world’s worst malnutrition crises, with nearly 2 million children expected to suffer acute malnutrition and almost half a million facing severe acute malnutrition without urgent treatment.

The World Food Programme (WFP) remains the backbone of the humanitarian response in Somalia, delivering the majority of food assistance and providing the logistics, nutrition, cash, and partner support needed to reach some of the country’s hardest-to-access communities.

But our reach is now far below the scale of need: current resources allow WFP to support barely one in ten people who need assistance, leaving millions exposed as risks intensify. The window to prevent catastrophe is still open. WFP has helped push back famine in Somalia before and is ready to scale up again.

WFP urgently requires US$193.8 million to sustain life-saving assistance for the most vulnerable people through to January 2027 and to prevent further catastrophe.