The World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a severe warning that millions in Somalia face worsening hunger and malnutrition as critical funding shortages are forcing a drastic reduction in life-saving emergency food assistance. Specifically, the agency must slash its coverage by over two-thirds, reducing the number of people receiving food aid from 1.1 million in August to just 350,000 in November. This substantial cut means the WFP will only be able to assist less than one in ten people who are in urgent need of food assistance for survival, with the agency’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, Ross Smith, stating that the ability to respond is “shrinking by the day.”
The hunger crisis is escalating rapidly, driven by the compounded effects of severe drought, ongoing conflict, and the reduction in humanitarian assistance, which together are pushing vulnerable families toward catastrophic conditions. According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, 4.4 million people in Somalia are currently facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse, including nearly 1 million in emergency levels of hunger, a figure that has risen by 50 percent in the last six months. Furthermore, malnutrition rates are alarmingly high, with 1.8 million children under five acutely malnourished and 421,000 suffering from severe malnutrition, yet WFP’s nutrition programmes are also being reduced, currently reaching only 180,000 children.
As the leader of the largest humanitarian operation in Somalia, supporting over 90 percent of the country’s food security response, the WFP’s lifeline is now critically jeopardised by deepening funding constraints that have already halved its monthly coverage compared to a year ago. To sustain even a minimum of life-saving operations for 800,000 people through the upcoming lean season until March 2026, the WFP urgently requires $$98 million. The agency warns that without this immediate additional funding, these reductions will inevitably deepen at a time when humanitarian needs are only continuing to grow.
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