WUNRN
SOMALIA:
Agencies alarmed by child malnutrition
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A mother and her malnourished child: A report says one in
six children in Somalia is acutely malnourished because of high food prices
and lack of access to staple foods due to ongoing conflict - file photo |
NAIROBI, 23 February 2009 (IRIN) - One in six
children in Somalia is acutely malnourished because of high food prices and lack
of access to staple foods due to ongoing conflict, according to an early
warning report.
The emergency is driven by a combination of conflict, hyperinflation and
below-normal Deyr (October to December 2008 rains), the Food Security Analysis
Unit for Somalia (FAO/FSAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS
Net) stated in a joint report on 20 February.
Lower and Middle Shabelle regions were the worst affected, although the
situation had also deteriorated in central Somalia.
FSAU and partners conducted 17 nutrition assessments between October and
December 2008 and "from these assessments, eight reported global acute
malnutrition [GAM] rates below the emergency threshold of 15 percent, three
reported rates between 15 and 19.9 percent, with the remaining six reporting
rates below 20 percent".
The report said nearly 43 percent of the population, or some 3.2 million
people, were "in need of emergency livelihood and life-saving
assistance".
The urban food crisis is growing and affecting some 705,000 people.
"Of this total, 565,000 are in Acute Food and Livelihood Crisis [AFLC)],
requiring emergency livelihood support and 140,000 are in Humanitarian
Emergency [HE], requiring both emergency livelihood and life-saving
assistance."
Equally affected by the food price crisis are at least one million new
internally displaced persons (IDPs) plus 275,000 long-term IDPs.
Moreover, food access for the urban poor is severely constrained as people
struggle with record prices. Prices of imported rice and local cereals
increased by between 230 and 350 percent from early 2008.
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"These price increases are significantly greater than global cereal
price increases," said the agencies. Although prices declined from October
2008, providing some benefits, they are still 450-780 percent above normal.
The problem is worse in rural areas, where "650,000 people are in HE,
requiring emergency livelihood and life-saving interventions. Another 565,000
are in AFLC, requiring emergency livelihood support."
"The severity and depth of the rural crisis is greatest in the Galgadud,
Mudug, Hiran and Middle Shabelle regions, where 50-70 percent of the total
rural population is in crisis and where the number in HE exceeds the number in
AFLC," the agencies said.
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http://www.fews.net/pages/country.aspx?gb=so&l=en
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
SOMALIA
· Over 3.2 million people (43 percent of Somalia’s population)
in urban centers, rural areas, and IDP camps require emergency assistance and
livelihood support through June 2009.
· An estimated 200,000 children under 5 years of age are acutely
malnourished, of which 60,000 are severely malnourished and are at risk of
death if they do not receive the appropriate specialist care. These figures are
derived from recent FSAU nutrition surveys and translate to one in six children
being acutely malnourished and one in twenty being severely malnourished.
· Due to increased armed conflict, political tensions, civil
insecurity, and high food prices, large scale population migration, both
internally and towards neighboring countries, is ongoing.
· The poor deyr rains or (October to December) led to another
poor harvest and a significant cereal shortfall. In pastoral areas, dwindling
rangeland resources continue to affect livestock conditions, productivity, and
values, especially in drought-affected central regions.
· A La Nina, a weather phenomenon associated with poor rains, has been confirmed this year will likely affect the performance of the gu season (April-June), the country’s main rainy season.
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