The United Nations warned - on Monday - of an imminent famine in parts of Somalia during the period from October to December, as drought worsened and global food prices rose to record levels.

The head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, declared that Somalia is "on the verge of famine", giving a "final alert" before disaster strikes this country in the Horn of Africa in light of a historic drought.

Griffiths said - during a press conference held in the Somali capital Mogadishu - that "the famine is at the door. Today I am giving my last alert."

He pointed out that the latest data "show concrete indications that a famine will occur between October and December of this year" in the Baidoa and Borhakba regions in the south of the country.

Griffiths - who arrived Thursday in Somalia - expressed his "great shock at the extent of pain and suffering inflicted on many Somalis," stressing that he saw "children suffering from malnutrition to the extent that they could hardly speak", during a visit to Baidoa, a "focus". impending disaster.

He said that these extreme conditions "may continue until March 2023 at the earliest."

The unprecedented drought affects 7.8 million people in Somalia, making up nearly half of the population, of whom 213,000 are at risk of starvation, according to United Nations figures.

Hunger and thirst have displaced one million people since 2021.

The country, which has been facing bloody attacks by Al-Shabaab for 15 years, is experiencing its third drought in a decade, but the current wave has "exceeded the two horrific droughts in 2010-2011 and 2016-2017 in terms of duration and severity," according to the Office of Humanitarian Affairs in July. July.

Local official reports indicate that at least 200 children have died due to malnutrition and acute diarrhea since January 2022, while 213,000 people suffer from acute malnutrition.


succession of disasters

This drought resulted from the succession of 4 insufficient rainy seasons in a row since the end of 2020, in an unprecedented phenomenon for at least 40 years.

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization warned at the end of August that the next season, in October and November, would also be scarce.

The drought led to the death of livestock, which are essential for the population, most of whom are pastoralists, and the destruction of agricultural crops after a wave of locusts swept the Horn of Africa between the end of 2019 and 2021.

The consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic have contributed to a further deterioration in the living conditions of many Somalis, in light of the closure measures, the slowdown in commercial activity and others.

In recent months, the Russian war on Ukraine had serious repercussions on Somalia, which derives 90% of its wheat supplies from these two countries.