FAO expects 5.5 million Somalis to face hunger by December
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on RFI
The FAO expects nearly 5.5 million people in Somalia to face hunger between October and December. Conflict, displacement, climate crises and declining humanitarian aid are worsening malnutrition, particularly in rural areas, which account for 62% of cases, RFI reports.
Nearly 5.5 million Somalis could face hunger between October and December, according to the FAO, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The crisis is being aggravated by 35 years of conflict and displacement, recent climate events and a decline in humanitarian aid.
Rural areas account for 62% of malnutrition cases, according to the FAO. Access to healthcare there is limited by a lack of infrastructure and transport, as well as restrictions imposed by al-Shabaab, the armed group that controls part of the countryside.
At Kismayo Central Hospital in southern Somalia, a stabilisation centre supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross is receiving children aged 12 to 14 months who weigh less than five kilograms. Doctor Abdulkarim Khayie told RFI that a child suffering from dehydration and a girl with pneumonia were receiving oxygen, food supplements and antibiotics.
The warning comes as floods could displace 874,319 people in Somalia by December, according to a report published on 22 October.
