A GLOBAL CRISIS
BY CARLOS BARRIOtwo-year-long drought— combined with conflict, inflation, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine’s impact on the global food system—has pushed Somalia into a state of severe crisis. Nearly 3 million people have been displaced, and nearly half of Somalia’s 15 million people need humanitarian assistance. An estimated 1.4 million children under the age of 5 face severe malnutrition as southern Somalia has experienced a drastic rise in child and adult deaths.
Fadumo Hudow Ibrahim fled southwest Somalia after she lost her farm and livestock to the drought. “We did not receive rain for a long time. All our animals were wiped out, and we cannot even grow crops. All these tragedies forced us to move here,” she says. After traveling three days to reach the outskirts of Mogadishu, she and her family now live in a makeshift shelter.
Thousands of camps for those who have been displaced have sprung up as families like Fadumo’s are forced to move, but they are often overcrowded and have poor water systems, making the camps prone to diseases like measles and cholera.
“The situation is grim,” says Angela Muathe, a communications manager for Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in Kenya and Somalia. “There is a need for a huge response to provide food, cash, water, and sanitation services. Catholic Relief Services is already working to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene services, but the needs are immense. Displaced people are coming into camps every day, and there is so much more needed.” Somalia, where most people earn a living from agriculture and
livestock herding, has experienced four consecutive failed rainy seasons— with a fifth underway.
Along with this forced migration, some families are making the heart-wrenching decision to marry off their young daughters for food, and young men are leaving to join armed groups in hopes of having consistent meals.
On top of this devastating drought, the war in Ukraine and the impacts of COVID-19 on the global supply chain have made getting food items into the country difficult and costly. Wheat, flour, chicken, eggs, and cooking oil are just some of the vital items that Somalia imports from Ukraine every year. Since the outbreak of the war, these items have been harder to come by, making the hunger crisis caused by the drought even worse.
According to the most recent assessment by the United Nations, at least 40 percent of Somalia’s population will experience severe food insecurity before the end of the year. If lifesaving aid is not critically ramped up, famine could be declared in several districts within the next few months.
The stark reality of ongoing hunger can be seen in the Baidoa District Hospital, where mothers wait in line holding their children and waiting for them to be examined.
“The drought has taken a toll on us,” says Faiza Abdi Siyad, a mother with a severely malnourished child. “I brought [my daughter] here for treatment and medicine, and food was provided to her, and she has improved tremendously, and I thank them for that. She is now taking therapeutic food and medicine, and I thank God for the improvement.”
Children such as Siyad’s daughter could carry the health impact of these early childhood deficits for their entire lives. According to UNICEF, at least 330,000 children in Somalia need life-saving treatment for severe wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition.
At the Baidoa District Hospital, where CRS helps run a nutrition project, new admissions of malnourished children have multiplied since May 2022. Muathe reports real benefits for those who can get treatment.
“I met two children in the hospital who had been undergoing follow-up treatment from illnesses related to malnutrition and the hospital staff told me they were improving,” she says. Adults are also responding to treatment.
“At Baidoa hospital, I met a lady who was around 60,” Muathe says. “She said the treatment had saved her life. She was extremely grateful to the medical staff. Without that treatment, she could not survive. The treatment provided to these people literally saves their lives.”
As drought ravages communities in Somalia, CRS has supported 70,000 people affected by the crisis with health care, nutrition services, cash assistance, clean water, and hygiene supplies. It recognizes the urgent need to avert famine and the devastation of livelihoods while prioritizing localized cooperative approaches that enhance social cohesion and a community’s ability to respond to future crises.
The crisis in Somalia is evidence that the growing global food crisis is getting worse, and more and more communities across the world are experiencing life-threatening levels of hunger and malnutrition on an unprecedented scale.
We are called to care for our sisters and brothers around the world. Matthew 25:40 says, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” In Somalia—and so many other parts of the world—the hunger crisis continues because of forces largely out of our individual control, but our faith calls us to act, whether that is through prayer, fundraising, or advocacy.
