UN warns of worsening food security situation in Somalia

Nairobi, July 7 (IANS) The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Monday warned of the worsening food security situation in Somalia in the next several months as a drought looms in the Horn of Africa nation.

FAO's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU) said the situation has been compounded by poor rainfall, shrinking humanitarian assistance and access, rising malnutrition, conflict and surging food prices, Xinhua reported.

"An estimated 203,000 acutely malnourished children under the age of five also require urgent treatment and nutrition support through mid 2014," FSNAU said in a statement issued Monday.

The FSNAU and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network had estimated in February that 857,000 people remain in crisis, requiring urgent humanitarian assistance through June.

"Food security is expected to deteriorate from crisis to emergency among displaced populations in Mogadishu where rates of acute malnutrition and mortality levels have surpassed emergency thresholds," it said.

Rainfall data collected and analysed by FAO's Water and Land Information Management Unit suggests that the Gu rains (rains between April and June) were erratic in nature starting late and ending early with very poor spatial distribution across the Horn of Africa nation.

Most rainfall observing stations recorded less than 50 percent of normal rainfall during the season.

According to the UN, the worst affected areas where deterioration is expected in the food security situation to crisis in the August-December period include agro-pastoral and conflict affected urban populations in Bakool, parts of the agro-pastoral populations of Gedo and Middle Juba regions, urban populations in Hiran and parts of Central Somalia.