![]() To survive, they must escape.Īl Shabaab's grip on large parts of southern and central Somalia was a major contributor to deaths in the 2011 famine. An estimated 740,000 of the drought's most desperate people live in areas under the control of the Al Shabaab extremists. "We have seen so many children dying because of hunger," she says.Īt the heart of this crisis, in areas where famine likely will be declared, is an Islamic extremist group linked to Al Qaeda. Mothers walk for days or weeks through bare landscapes in search of help, at times finding that the withered, feverish child strapped to them has died along the way. Many camp residents, overwhelmingly women and children, beg from neighbours, or go to sleep hungry. A day's meal might be plain rice or just black tea. The Associated Press spoke with a dozen people in rapidly growing displacement camps during a visit to southern Somalia in late September.Īll say they've received little aid, or none. One of the world's deadliest Islamic extremist groups, which limits the delivery of aid. Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which stalled ships carrying enough grain to feed hundreds of millions of people.Ī drop in humanitarian donations, as the world shifted focus to the war in Ukraine. They include climate change, with some of the harshest effects of warming felt in Africa. The nation of proud pastoralists that has survived generations of drought now stumbles amid several global crises descending at once. Water is distributed to displaced people at the camp. The UN says half a million such children are at risk of death, "a number, a pending nightmare, we have not seen this century".Īs the world is gripped by food insecurity, Somalia, a country of 15 million people shaking off its past as a failed state, can be considered the end of the line. Thousands of people have died, including nearly 900 children under 5 being treated for malnutrition, according to United Nations data. The fifth season is underway and likely will fail too, along with the sixth early next year.Ī rare famine declaration could be made as soon as this month, the first significant one anywhere in the world since Somalia's famine a decade ago. This drought has astonished resilient herders and farmers by lasting four failed rainy seasons, starting two years ago. Somalis say the current drought is worse than any they can remember.ĭiriye, who believes no one can survive in some of the places he travelled, suggests one without hesitation: White Bone. Huts made of branches and cloth provide shelter to Somalis displaced by drought on the outskirts of Dollow. ![]()
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