Date: Thu, 8 May 2014 00:08:42 +0200
Somalia rains failing, hunger coming, say groups
<http://www.ap.org/> Associated PressBy JASON STRAZIUSO | Associated Press
- 1 hour 29 minutes ago
97/05/2014
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Weak and erratic rains, military conflict and little
funding from the international community could lead to mass hunger in
Somalia, aid groups warned on Wednesday.
The U.N.'s food and security unit says 51,000 children are severely
malnourished and face a high risk of death. The group warned that the food
situation is likely to worsen in coming months.
"We're very concerned that at the minute there are so many indicators out
there that Somalia is in trouble," said Ed Pomfret of the aid group Oxfam.
Somalia has long been in trouble, and that's part of the problem, more than
20 groups said in a coordinated statement.
Crises in Syria, South Sudan, Congo and Central African Republic have
dominated recent headlines. Somalia, Pomfret noted, has long been known for
a quartet of misery: "Pirates, terrorism, hunger and death." But, the groups
said, those are not reasons to neglect Somalis in need.
The U.N. this year asked for $933 million for 2014 aid operations. As of
this week, only 12 percent of that request has needed, leaving a gap of $822
million.
The aid appeal is made with the specter of Somalia's 2011 famine, when an
estimated 260,000 people died, fresh in memories. Aid groups, the U.N. and
donor governments acknowledge that they did not respond to warning signs in
time.
"It seems another drought is looming," Abdullahi Abdulle, a farmer in
Bulo-Burte in Somalia's Hiran region, said by phone. "We had some rains but
it's not enough to grow crops, and last year it was the same. Help is
needed."
Erratic seasonal rains will likely lead to below average harvests in July
and August, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said late last month.
The early warning should now lead to early action, said Andrew Lanyon of the
aid group Somrep.
Many farmers who recently planted crops in the expectation of rain have seen
their crops wilt. Pastoralists have also been seen slaughtering small calves
in order to reserve resources for older cattle, said Bashir Mohamed Hashi,
the program director of the Wajir South Development Association.
"It's a sign of distress," he said. Other families are selling off household
items to buy food, he said.
Adding to the crisis are decisions by banks in the U.S. and U.K. making it
harder for the Somali diaspora to send money back to families in Somalia.
Somalis living overseas send $1.3 billion to Somalia ever year, a monetary
lifeline for an estimated 40 percent of the population, according to
estimates from aid groups.
"If remittances stop, families are unable to access food, and their coping
strategies have been exhausted. These are the households facing
malnutrition," said Ibrahim Ali Hussein of the aid group Adeso.
___
Associated Press reporter Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia contributed to
this report.
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Somalia,Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Aid groups in Somalia are warning that
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A Somali refugee girl on a donkey fleeing the Somali capital due to hunger,
to a .
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