In 2017 a drought ravaged

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

that has left more than 6 million people, or half the country's population, facing food shortages with several water supplies becoming undrinkable due to the possibility of infection. According to the Humanitarian Information Unit of the U.S. Government, over 2.9 million people in Somalia face crisis or emergency level acute

food insecurity Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...

and need emergency food aid, as a result of below average to failed rains in many areas in 2016 that reduced crop production and harmed livestock. Somalia is currently facing its seventh consecutively poor harvest and food stability is a major issue. In the April–June rainy season little to no rainfall occurred across much of Somalia in April, but rain has begun and is forecasted in May. Lack of

potable water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

has accelerated an acute watery

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak with an estimated 32,000 cases reported since the beginning of the year. 1.4 million children are projected to need treatment for acute

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

in 2017, according to the UN Children's Fund (

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

). FEWS NET expects 2.9 million people will remain in crisis and emergency levels of acute food insecurity through at least June 2017. In March 2017, 1.75 million people received international food assistance, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (

OCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

).The preceding text is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code. An estimated 1.1 million

IDPs An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. I ...

currently live in Somalia, and at least 548,000 additional people have been displaced since November 2016 due to the drought. Most people displaced by drought left rural parts of

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

Lower Shabelle Lower Shabelle (, , , ) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. Geography Lower Shabelle is bordered by the regions of Banaadir, Middle Shabelle (Shabeellaha Dhexe), Hiran, Bay, Middle Jubba (Jubbada Dhexe) and by the ...

, and

Sool Sool (, ) is a disputed administrative region (gobol). It borders Togdheer to the west, Sanaag to the north, Ethiopia to the south and Nugal, Bari to the east. Its capital city is Las Anod. The region is disputed by the self-declared Republic o ...

and settled in urban areas such as

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

and

Baidoa Baidoa (, Somali (Af-Maxaa): , ) is the largest city of the South West State of Somalia. Between 2002 and 2014, Baidoa was the capital of the South West State. In 2014, the capital was changed to Barawa. Overview Baydhabo is the main hub of ...

. Displacement numbers continue to rise as more people leave their homes and displacement monitoring increases. IOM and other UN agencies estimate that the number of IDPs, a highly vulnerable group in Somalia, will rise to 3 million by June if the April–June rains are below average or fail entirely. Additionally, since January 2016, about 56,000 former Somali refugees have returned from Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp to Somalia through

UNHCR The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...

's voluntary repatriation program and have settled in

Gedo Gedo (, , , or ''Ghedu'') is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in Jubaland, southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. The region was formed during 1974 and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province ...

, Bay,

Lower Jubba Lower Juba (, , , ) is an administrative region (''Administrative divisions of Somalia, gobol'') in southern Somalia. With its capital at Kismayo, it lies in the States and regions of Somalia, autonomous Jubaland region. Lower Juba is bordered ...

, and

Banaadir Banaadir (, , ) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is the only region in the country not belonging to any of the six states. It is b ...

Causes

Main causes of the drought and its impact are said to be instability, conflict and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

with severe weather conditions potentially also playing a part.

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

may be the drought's cause.

Humanitarian situation

On 4 March, Somalia's prime minister

Hassan Ali Khaire Hassan Ali Khaire (or alternatively transliterated as Hassan Ali Khayre, , ; born April 15, 1967), in Wabxo Galguduud popularly known as Hassan Khaire, is a senior politician and is the former prime minister of Somalia. He was appointed on 23 ...

announced that at least 110 people died due to hunger and diarrhoea in

Bay Region Bay (, , ) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in southern Somalia. Overview It is bordered by the Somali regions of Bakool, Hiran, Lower Shebelle (Shabeellaha Hoose), Middle Juba (Jubbada Dhexe), and Gedo. Baidoa used to be the capital ...

alone. The FAO Representative for Somalia, noted that the situation in many rural areas, particularly

Puntland Puntland is an autonomous state that considers itself to be part of Somalia, despite not accepting the legitimacy of Somalia's current governing administration. It was formed in 1998, and was a federal member state of Somalia from its fou ...

is starting to look "worryingly like the run-up to famine in 2010-2011". The

International Organization for Migration The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations related organization working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for Human migration, migrants, including internally displa ...

also warned that if "action is not taken immediately, early warning signals point towards a growing humanitarian crisis in Somalia of potentially catastrophic proportions". Hassan Saadi Noor,

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

's Country Director in Somalia stated: In addition to drought and famine, diseases, such as

and measles were spread. As of March 2017, more than 8,400 cases of the cholera had already been confirmed since January, which claimed 200 lives. On 20 March 2017, at least 26 people died from hunger in the semi-autonomous Jubaland region of southern Somalia, according to the state media. As of July 2017, unclean drinking water had caused over 71,000 cases of cholera or severe diarrhea in 2017, resulting in nearly 1,100 deaths.

Calls for response

Immediate response

On 2 February 2017 a senior

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

humanitarian official in Somalia warned of a famine in some of the worst drought-affected areas without a massive and urgent scale up of humanitarian assistance in the coming weeks. He also stated that the omission of such an immediate response "will cost lives, further destroy livelihoods, and could undermine the pursuit of key

State-building State-building as a specific term in social sciences and humanities, refers to political and historical processes of creation, institutional consolidation, stabilization and sustainable development of states, from the earliest emergence of stateh ...

and

peacebuilding Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and ...

initiatives". On 8 March 2017 United Nations Secretary-General

António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...

urged a massive scale up in international support to avert a famine.

Adequate response

While the particular drought can only be dealt with by an immediate response some suggest foresight and preventive, long-term, more cost-efficient and appropriate measures. Esther Ngumbi, researcher at the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

in Alabama, suggests that Horn of Africa's repetitive cycles of drought and hunger crisis should be responded to with "strategic integration and coordination between governments and NGOs" to "help farmers become more resilient to drought and other climate change-related disaster". Furthermore, she states that once this has been achieved, innovative ways to disseminate available information and solutions to farmers would be needed. Mohamed Abdulkadir, field manager of Save the Children notes that food deliveries destroy local markets. German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

suggested a billion-strong crisis-fund for the

to allow it to act preventively.

Response

Government response

On 28 February 2017, Somali President

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (, ; born March 11, 1962), also known as Farmaajo, is a Somali politician who served as president of Somalia from 2017 to 2022. He was Prime Minister of Somalia, prime minister of Somalia for six months, from Novembe ...

declared the drought a

national disaster A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

Germany

According to reports of 1 May 2017 in a visit to the country Germany's foreign minister

Sigmar Gabriel Sigmar Hartmut Gabriel (born 12 September 1959) is a German politician who was the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2018 and the vice-chancellor of Germany from 2013 to 2018. He was Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...

pledged to at least doubling the 70 million euros of aid and stated in a press conference with Somali prime minister

that the "international state community has to do more against the famine catastrophe". Furthermore, he asks the international community to no longer view Somalia as a

failed state A failed state is a state that has lost its ability to fulfill fundamental security and development functions, lacking effective control over its territory and borders. Common characteristics of a failed state include a government incapable of ...

"but as a state which laboriously struggles to recreate a reliable state structure" enabling it to "guarantee security".

European Union

At the International Conference on Somalia in London on 11 May 2017, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

pledged 200 million euros. Mohamed thanked the donors, emphasizing in his speech that Somalia wished to stand on its own two feet again, and he calling on the participants at the conference to hold his administration accountable if they failed to achieve this.

References

{{reflist

External links

SaveTheChildren: Somalia

United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia

(German)

Drought,Somalia,2017 2017 disasters in Somalia 2010s famines Drought,2017 Somalia 2017 Droughts in Africa