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By Harini Raghupathy
According to a warning issued by the United Nations, Somalia might be on the brink of a severe famine. The Deyr rainy season in Somalia, extending from October to December, has so far been poor. High temperatures combined with limited rainfall in October 2016 have led to drought conditions in most parts of the country. With another failure in rainfall, the situation of 2011 may reoccur resulting in a large toll of deaths. As the situation of the drought worsens, the needs of the affected people are expected to grow.
The scarcity in rainfalls and the resulting famine
The preliminary forecasts of poor Deyr or rains in Somalia (between March to May) follow a trend of failure of the last two rainfalls. This may lead to a further deterioration of food security. The latest food security and nutrition analysis from the FAO-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) revealed: the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has increased from 5 million in September 2016 to 6.2 million between February and June 2017. This is alarmingly more than half the population of Somalia.
The main consequence of such an acute shortage in the food reserves and supplies is the slump in the nutrition intake. Malnourished children are in need of urgent nutritional support. These include treatments for those who are severely malnourished and are far more vulnerable than any other group. The outbreak of diseases like Cholera owing to shortage of water has hit most of the population severely.
Aids, efforts and contributions
Various humanitarian organisations including the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) are involved in providing humanitarian assistance to the affected. This assistance includes tackling the rising malnutrition, limiting displacement, containing disease outbreaks and enhancing protection. The Somalia Red Crescent, in partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), is currently distributing food to 140,000 drought-affected people. However, the main issue which affects humanitarian assistance is the issue of financial funding.
Displacement due to the search for food and shelter and increased risk of protection from violations and conflicts prevent humanitarian organisations from providing life-saving services. With the worsening situation, the President of Somalia has appealed for assistance. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is calling on the international community to provide $300m by April. Moreover, ‘Save the Children’ reported that it requires $60m to reach the 1.2 million Somalis affected by the crisis.
The plan for the battle against starvation
At this point of time, both the short term and long term approaches are being implemented in Somalia. The short-term approaches include distributing food to the affected. The long-term ones include planting drought-tolerant crops variety that will be able to withstand insufficient rainfall.
The main reason for the advent of drought has been the drastic slump in the rainfall. Interestingly, while the effect of climate change is being felt acutely in the recent past, certain developed nations discredit the phenomenon of climate change as a whole. Nations like Somalia which are in a dire need of protection are thus neglected.
The present drought in Somalia is worse than the situation in 2011. However, it is being tackled with in a better manner. The humanitarian response has been better. In 2011, the response was slow and thousands had already died before the drought was officially declared. What is now required in Somalia is more intensive humanitarian assistance through better funding from the international communities. This is to control the outbreak of diseases, prevent malnourishment and provide access to clean water to the people affected.
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