More than 700,000 Somalis face acute food insecurity

An estimated 731,000 people are facing acute food insecurity across Somalia despite improvements in some regions, according to a UN-backed analysis released Thursday in Nairobi.

The latest findings from a joint assessment by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU), a project managed by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said the 731, 000 figure represents a 29 percent decrease from the July-December 2014 estimate.

The UN-backed report warns that additional 2.3 million people are at risk of sliding into food insecurity and require interventions to protect their livelihoods and build their resilience against future shocks.

"This group of households remain highly vulnerable to shocks that could push them back to food security Crisis or Emergency," says the report.

The report said that despite improved food security, improved livestock conditions, and mostly, stable staple food prices, a large number of people across Somalia will be acutely food insecure through June.

"Many children remain acutely malnourished, despite a small decrease in their numbers over the past six months," says the report.

According to FSNAU, malnutrition rates remain stubbornly high with nearly 203,000 acutely malnourished children requiring emergency nutrition supplement, mainly due to lack of access to clean water, sanitation infrastructure and better hygiene.

And About 38,000 children are severely malnourished and need life-saving medical treatment and therapeutic food.

The situation has deteriorated among displaced people in Bossaso, Baidoa and Doolow, but improved in Mogadishu, Kismayo and Dhobley, the report said.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Philippe Lazzarini said valuable support from donors has allowed for a timely scale-up of humanitarian emergency response and the worst impact of the crisis has been mitigated, especially in the second half of 2014.

In 2015, he said the Humanitarian Response Plan has requested 863 million U.S. dollars to save lives, improve protection of displaced people and provide durable solutions, and strengthen resilience of communities to withstand shocks.

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