Famine ends in Somalia but future still looks bleak

Famine conditions have ended in war-torn Somalia six months after they were declared, but the situation remains dire with nearly a third of the population needing emergency support, the UN said yesterday.

“No more regions in Somalia are under famine conditions,” said José Graziano da Silva, head of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

“However, the good news does not mean the crisis is over.”

Three areas had been in famine: southern Somalia’s Middle Shabelle, in Afgoye – the world’s largest camp for displaced people – and camps in the anarchic capital Mogadishu.

However, those areas have now improved to emergency level, the UN said, while warning that the situation remains critical.

“If we do not continue to support these people they will not survive and we will have famine back,” the UN food agency chief said.

At least 2.34 million people or about a third of the country still need support across Somalia, while hunger is expected to increase in the lean period before next harvest.

“We have less than 100 days to avoid a new famine in the region,” he said.

Famine was first declared in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions in July, but later spread to other areas. Three areas improved to emergency levels last November.

“The combination of the massive scale-up in humanitarian assistance and an exceptional harvest have helped to improve the humanitarian situation,” a UN statement said.

Somalia, ravaged by uninterrupted civil war for 20 years, is one of the most dangerous places in the world for aid workers and one of the regions that needs them most.

Much of southern Somalia is controlled by Al-Qaeda linked Shebab fighters, who have imposed draconian restrictions on aid agencies wanting to support those struggling in the war-wracked region.

The hardline Shebab are facing increasing pressure from government forces and regional armies, with Kenyan forces in the south, Ethiopia’s army in the south and west, and the African Union troops in Mogadishu.

“The world shouldn’t turn its back on Somalia, solely because statistics say there is no longer a famine,” Senait Gebregzhiabher, the head of Oxfam in Somalia, said.

“We are seeing improvements in Somalia due to a good harvest and effective humanitarian aid, but the fear is that conflict threatens to jeopardize these gains.”

Famine implies that at least a fifth of households face extreme food shortages, with acute malnutrition in over 30 percent of people, and two deaths per 10,000 people every day, according to the UN definition.