By September, 2.2 million people will face hunger so severe that it threatens their lives or livelihoods. A further 3.2 million people – around one-fifth of Somalia’s population – will be uncertain of their next meal, unless there are urgent efforts to respond to the drought in Somalia.
Mark Lowcock, the UN’s humanitarian chief, said the country is facing one of the driest rainy seasons in more than three decades, and a “rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation”.
“We were caught by surprise at just how quickly this drought has returned,” said Nasra Ismail, director of the Somalia NGO Consortium. “The time for people to recover has been halved and has been continuing to decrease every single season,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s climate crisis.”
The April to June period, initially forecast as an average rainy season, is now thought to be one of the driest on record in more than 35 years. The failed rainy season was partly caused by cyclones in the southern Indian Ocean, including Cyclone Idai in March, which stopped rains from moving north. This has come on top of abnormally hot and dry conditions between January and March, and a poor “deyr” season, between October and December last year.While there has been some rainfall in recent weeks, it is still well below what is needed, leading to the devastation of crops and death of livestock.
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