After the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades, a UN food security report considers Somalia at severe risk of officially falling into famine in the coming months due to five consecutive failed rainy seasons and “exceptionally high” food prices.
Some 700,000 people in several parts of the country are deemed at risk of suffering famine by between April and June next year after aid workers warned that funds diverted away towards the Ukraine conflict have hit the country hard.
Islamic Relief country director Aliow Mohamed explained many citizens from particularly impoverished areas have been forced to walk hundreds of kilometers to major cities hoping for assistance, which government officials have been accused of ignoring for fear of tarnishing the country’s image as a failed state.