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Somalia

FAO Somalia Famine Prevention and Drought Response Plan January – December 2017, Update June 2017

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This Plan is an update and extension of FAO’s Famine Prevention and Drought Response Plan (February-July 2017)

INTRODUCTION

Continued, massive support is needed to keep Somalia free of famine. FAO is contributing to prevent famine and improve food security by helping families purchase and produce food in rural areas. Around 92 percent of Somalis on the brink of famine live in these rural parts of the country, where most humanitarian partners lack good access. With USD 70 million raised by May 2017, FAO is reaching nearly 600 000 people with cash relief and livelihood support for Somalia’s main agricultural season (Gu), while protecting 21 million livestock that provide food and income to more than 3 million people.

The drought set off a chain reaction of losses, which started on Somalia’s farms and pastures. Insufficient rain and water availability severely reduced food production and caused substantial livestock losses. Food and water prices rose beyond the means of farmers, pastoralists and wage labourers who, in parallel, lost their income and suddenly became even more dependent on market purchases. With each passing season, the losses intensified and compounded. Farmers in the south faced yield reductions of 50 percent in mid-2016 and 70 percent at yearend, while pastoralists in the north endured poor rains and livestock losses for up to three years. As families became increasingly destitute and indebted, a famine alert was issued in early 2017 and AWD/Cholera began to spread rampantly.

Preventing Famine is not enough. People have lost the ability to produce and afford food on their own, and cannot recover from 1-3 years of asset losses and debt in few months’ time. After two critically low harvests in 2016, farmers have no food or seed stocks left. Barren farms have no jobs to offer wage labourers. Poor pastoral and agropastoral families have lost up to 60 percent of their herd. People are leaving rural areas to where they think they will find food and water supplies, which humanitarian funding cannot sustain. According to UNHCR, 739 000 people have been displaced due to the drought since November 2016. Once their livelihood collapses, they become displaced and time passes, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to return.

This food security crisis cannot be reversed without adequately addressing why and where it began. Due to further deterioration, the estimated number of acutely food insecure Somalis between April and June rose by 500 000 rural people, to 6.7 million. Most of the increase was in people facing IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) – the stage of hunger that precedes famine. FSNAU/FEWS NET’s Food Security Alert of 9 May also showed a greatly expanded geographic area of where these people are concentrated. Almost all Federal Member States now have large areas classified as IPC 4 through mid-2017, and humanitarian needs are expected to persist at current levels until late 2017. The situation demands continued investment in averting famine, seizing recovery opportunities and preparing for any possible new threats in the coming months.