WFP warns Somalia on brink of worsening hunger crisis

Somalia faces a rapidly deteriorating hunger crisis that could escalate into famine without urgent funding, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned Friday.

Two failed rainy seasons, conflict, and mass displacement have pushed millions into severe food insecurity, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response Ross Smith told reporters in Geneva.

About 4.4 million people, roughly a quarter of the population, are experiencing crisis levels of hunger or worse, he warned.

According to the emergency director, WFP's life-saving food and nutrition assistance could end "in a few weeks" if new resources are not secured.

Nearly 2 million children are acutely malnourished, including more than 400,000 with severe acute malnutrition. Half a million people have been displaced in the past five months alone, according to WFP.

Funding shortages have already forced major cuts. WFP currently assists about 640,000 people, down from 2.2 million a year ago, Smith said, and nutrition support for pregnant women and children has dropped by more than 75%.

"We are on the precipice right now of another decisive moment," said Smith. "Without urgent action, we may be unable to reach the most vulnerable in time, most of them women and children."

The agency warned that Somalia is once again on the same trajectory as previous famine crises, citing clear early-warning signs similar to those seen before the 2011 famine and the near-famine in 2022, which was narrowly averted thanks to humanitarian assistance.

WFP said it has the operational capacity to respond but needs immediate financial backing to prevent a catastrophe.