Thousands flee years long drought in Somalia as hunger deepens and aid shrinks
MSF said 22,000 nutrition cases were admitted this year as aid agencies face severe shortfalls and one in four screened children is severely malnourished.
- On Tuesday, Doctors Without Borders reported that funding to address acute malnutrition in Somalia has dropped by more than 80% this year, even as one in four children in southwest displacement camps remains severely malnourished.
- MSF Health Adviser Mitchell Sangma said the United States eliminated its aid to the country this year, down from $70 million last year, compounding a humanitarian crisis driven by prolonged drought and worsening food insecurity.
- Screenings of children under five in Baidoa have revealed acute malnutrition rates of about 50%, with Sangma reporting that MSF has admitted 22,000 nutrition cases this year, more than 80% higher than last year.
- Over half a million people were displaced in the first three months of 2026, with 85% being women and children; one-third of families now survive on only one meal daily, and only 2% can afford three.
- Allara Ali, MSF's project coordinator in Somalia, warned that the world cannot wait for a famine declaration before acting, as aid agencies emphasize malnutrition and preventable deaths will continue rising without increased international support.
45 Articles
45 Articles
Thousands flee yearslong drought in Somalia as hunger deepens
Baidoa: After nearly two weeks on the road with her five children, Luul Mohamed finally arrived in the southwestern Somali city of Baidoa with no food and little sense of what would happen next. Drought conditions had forced Mohamed and her family to leave Saakoow, a town in the Middle Jubba region more than 300 kilometers (186 miles) away. They moved from village to village before arriving in Baidoa, now a major hub for people fleeing drought, …
Somalia battles child hunger as MSF says effort hit by funding cuts
Health workers at a clinic in Baidoa, southwest Somalia, wrapped a color-coded malnutrition tape around a child's arm. The reading indicated severe malnutrition. Nearby, another child was weighed as mothers wait with sick children.The scenes reflected findings from a survey conducted by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Somalia's Ministry of Health: child hunger is on the rise.
Associated Press News
Thousands flee yearslong drought in Somalia as hunger deepens and aid shrinks
One Somali family's long trek to escape drought conditions is an example of a deepening humanitarian emergency in Somalia, where years of drought, conflict and economic pressures are pushing more families from rural communities into displacement camps as hunger rises and humanitarian funding shrinks
In Somalia, doctors without borders believe that many children suffer from malnutrition.
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