The sandy terrain of Dollow is peppered with new, vibrant green flora, but recent rains haven’t been enough to support the 150,000 Somalis who have fled to this southern town in need of assistance.
Millions of Somalis have been uprooted as a result of East Africa’s worst drought in 40 years. Five failed rainy seasons in a row have taken the little nation to the brink of hunger, and this year isn’t looking any better.
“We are malnourished, the land is dry, and I can’t afford to go back,” Khadijo Mohamed Omar said. She was speaking from outside her dome-shaped wood and orange fabric residence.
Two of the farmer’s children died of malnutrition, driving the 35-year-old mother to go on the perilous voyage at the end of last year. She gave birth to her seventh child around two months after arriving at the rapidly developing United Nations-supported camp in Dollow.
Somalia dodged an official famine declaration last year, due to a tremendous infusion of humanitarian help, yet tragedies like Omar’s persist to this day.
Researchers determined that the drought caused 43,000 extra deaths in Somalia that year, assuming the famine was not proclaimed. Half of the population was under the age of five.
In terms of starvation, we haven’t yet seen the worst of it. We were able to get it under control last year. On her first humanitarian tour as World Food Programme (WFP) executive director, Cindy McCain stated, “But we need to apply more, do more here to help keep famine at bay.”
McCain, speaking amid the cries of babies at a hungry children’s facility in Dollow, warned that humanitarian groups such as the World Food Programme will have less money this year because donor budgets were likely to be squeezed.
Despite the decreased assistance, Somalis will confront much of the same challenges.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) estimates that rainfall this season will be much below average.
According to World Bank data from April, the price of maize in Dollow climbed by over 23% year on year.
The United Nations has sought $2.6 billion to help 7.6 million Somalis by 2023, but just $609 million has been provided so far.
Aid funding is expected to fall as a consequence of the global economic crisis, the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, and a number of geopolitical conflicts, most notably the war between Russia and Ukraine.
