Somalia: Why WFP Plans to Cut Food Rations

World Food Programme (WFP) says it may be forced to cut food rations in June for more than one million vulnerable Somalis due to shortage of funds.

WFP had cut food rations by 50 percent for 1.3 million Somalis last month due to lack of money.

The UN agency, in a statement, warned that its beneficiaries once again will face increased hunger if it does not receive the money needed to keep its programme running.

According to UN estimate, 5.9 million people, half of the country’s population, need humanitarian assistance.

According to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), 1.7 million people in Somalia face acute food insecurity, with nearly 50,000 of them reported to have been forced to flee their homes in search of food, water, aid and work.

‘These are people who live from meal to meal and the kind of assistance that you provide is just enough for them to survive’, WFP Spokesman, Tomson Phiri, said.

‘And, when we cut it by half, we are talking of a basic meal. This is not a three-course meal. This is not a five-course meal. This is not a seven-course meal. No. It is just the basics’.

Somalia has not been able to feed itself because of conflict, desert locust infestation, the economic impacts of Covid-19, drought, and flooding.

Phiri said funding shortages were putting vital nutrition programmes at risk, adding that malnutrition rates are rising, undermining previous gains made in reducing the number of children suffering from it.

In January, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the European Union (EU) commenced a three-year project in Somalia with a view to improving food security.

It is understood that livestock and fishing, which are leading income earners in the country, have been affected by conflict, climate change, piracy and illegal fishing.

Source: VOA

Photo source: WFP

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