MOGADISHU, Somalia – About 6.9 million Somali people are expected to require lifesaving humanitarian and protection assistance in 2024, the World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday.
El Nino-induced floods, experienced from October 2023, combined with the after-effects of a drought, protracted conflict, and high food prices continue to fuel acute food insecurity in Somalia, the WFP said.
“High levels of malnutrition persist in Somalia with 1.7 million children under five expected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2024, including 430,000 children likely to face life-threatening severe acute malnutrition – attributable to high disease burden and poor access to health, nutrition,” the WFP said in latest report released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
The UN food agency said it requires 342.2 million U.S. dollars in net funding across all activities for the next six months to scale up humanitarian response in Somalia.
The October-December 2023 Deyr rains, which caused devastating floods, experienced an early end, but the flood impacts were substantial, with 2.4 million people affected, 1 million displaced and complete crop failure along the Juba and Shabelle rivers, according to the WFP.
