Somalia Faces Sharp Rise in Hunger, UN Warns
The number of people in Somalia facing crisis level hunger has nearly doubled in the past year, according to UN backed experts. A new report says 6.5 million Somalis are now struggling with severe food insecurity, driven by drought, conflict, and shrinking international aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which monitors hunger and malnutrition, released the figures this week. It warned that more than two million people are already in the “emergency” category, just one step away from famine. The report also highlighted the plight of children, estimating that 1.84 million under the age of five are at risk of acute malnutrition in 2026. Of these, nearly half a million require urgent treatment.
“This alarming deterioration is driven by worsening drought, rising food prices, and insecurity across central, southern, and northern Somalia,” the IPC said. It added that the situation is being made worse by declining humanitarian assistance.
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has also raised concerns. The agency warned last week that it may have to halt food aid in Somalia by April if new funding is not secured. Already, WFP has cut back sharply, reducing the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.
Funding challenges have been compounded by political developments. In January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia after a US funded WFP warehouse was destroyed in Mogadishu’s port. Although Washington resumed food distribution later that month, UN agencies say overall support has fallen since the US began cutting aid following President Donald Trump’s re election.
Levels of acute malnutrition have now risen for two consecutive years. Experts say that even if rainfall improves between April and June, the gains will be modest and unlikely to reverse the crisis.
The IPC report concludes that Somalia’s hunger emergency is worsening rapidly, with millions of lives at risk unless international donors step up support. Aid groups are calling for urgent funding to prevent the situation from sliding into famine.
Humanitarian organizations stress that without immediate global action, Somalia could face one of its worst food crises in decades, underscoring the need for sustained international solidarity and long term investment in resilience.
