22 Sep 2009

The United Nations food agency has warned that Somalia is experiencing its worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years as war continues to devastate the country.

In a statement released on Monday, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said drought, conflict and displacement have pushed some 3.6 million people, about half the Somali population, to the brink of starvation.

The FAO explained that nearly 1.3 million Somalis have been displaced by fighting and about 1.4 million farmers are facing a severe drought. The two factors combined have caused a food shortage - even in staples - and driven up prices. This has particularly affected the urban poor, who number around 665,000.

The Horn of Africa country has witnessed more than 18 years of unrelenting civil chaos as armed groups have engaged in heavy fighting, terror attacks and bombings during a power struggle following the ouster of President Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

This is while the Gulf of Aden remains rife with piracy as foreign naval patrols fail to safeguard Somali waters, which serve as a key trade route between Asia and Europe.

According to the FAO statement, Somalia is the worst of a number of hunger-stricken countries dotting east Africa and the Horn of Africa, where currently some 20 million must depend on international food aid.

Moreover, the figure is expected to rise still further during the 'hunger season', particularly among marginal farmers and low-income urban dwellers, it said.

Besides 'below-average rainfall combined with conflict and displacement', the FAO blamed the mounting starvation on the 'El Nino' phenomenon, which is an abnormal warming of the waters of the equatorial Pacific.

"The effects of El Nino, which usually brings heavy rains towards the end of the year, could make matters worse ... destroying crops both in the field and in stores (and) increasing livestock losses," the statement added.

The UN agency also warned of growing insecurity regarding food due to continued low purchasing power in the impoverished region, where Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya are also located.


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