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Photos: Drought in Somalia worsened by funding gap, Ukraine war

Millions of people are facing severe hunger as a result of the worst drought in 40 years in the Horn of Africa.

Somalia drought
A strong gust of wind blows a reddish-brown dust cloud through the encampment in Luglow. Sun-faded sheets and tarps tied to domed bundles of twigs dance in the wind. These structures are home to 30,000 people – mostly those displaced because of the ongoing drought. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
By Joost Bastmeijer
Published On 24 Mar 2022

Luglow, Somalia – Across the Horn of Africa, millions of people are facing severe hunger as a result of the worst drought in the region in 40 years.

As the situation deteriorates, aid agencies fear that a focus on the Ukraine crisis is likely to overwhelm the agenda and donors at a critical time for the East African country of Somalia in particular.

Currently, one in four Somali people faces hunger caused by extreme drought, and the United Nations (UN) projects that 4.6 million Somalis will not have enough food by May 2022.

In the southern regions of Somalia, people are flocking to camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The area is littered with dead goats, camels, sheep, cows and donkeys that have all died because of lack of water.

In the camps, the situation is dire. There is not enough food and only limited amounts of water are coming in, brought by water trucks. Many children are suffering from severe malnutrition.

“Five years ago, there was enough aid from the international community,” says Mohammed Ahmed of the Save the Children aid organisation in Somalia. “There was an adequate response. But this time, that alertness is not there. There is a gaping gap between the amount we need and the amount of donations raised so far.”

According to a statement by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, only 3.2 percent ($47.1m) of the required funding ($1.5bn) for its humanitarian response plan has been received so far.

If the funding gap remains an issue, the UN’s World Food Programme will have to look at prioritising funds, said WFP spokesman Petroc Wilton, noting “It’s incredibly difficult because you have to choose which areas and populations need help the most.”

The organisation has already been forced to transfer money from its preventive programmes in Somalia to curative aid, he said.

“The situation is extremely dire,” Wilton continues. “We are already seeing the effects of the financing gap in the camps. We simply cannot help all the people who need help. It’s going to get worse unless we can somehow bridge that funding gap.”

After a devastating locust invasion, the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing drought, the war in Ukraine might be the latest blow to the already worrying situation in East Africa.

Last year, 53 percent of the food that WFP received in Somalia came from Ukraine. Now that the port of Odesa, Ukraine is closed for the export of food aid, WFP is predicting food scarcity and skyrocketing prices for staples such as wheat and peas in Somalia.

New arrivals wait before they receive food
New arrivals wait to receive food and medical assistance from nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and other inhabitants of the Luglow IDP settlement. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
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Somalia Drought
A man fixes a puncture in the tube that sends a truck's water into a large storage bag. After the bag is full, the inhabitants of the Luglow IDP settlement can collect water by using a small valve. One woman, who arrived in the camp three days ago, has not eaten anything since. “There is not enough food,” she says. “The situation is dire. But only getting water is already better than dying in the countryside.” [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
Abdi Samad rests in his home in the Luglow IDP settlement. He suffers from severe malnutrition and is too weak to speak or stand up unaided. “He used to be a strong man,” one of his relatives who is now looking after him says, “but he developed mental issues and had troubles eating. His current situation is caused by a combination of untreated mental illness and malnutrition.” [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
A man waits on top of the water truck until all water is pumped into a large water bag in the IDP settlement. “The situation now is much worse than it was in 2017,” explains Mohamud Ahmed of the Somali branch of aid agency Save the Children. “We can see that in the situation in the refugee camps. The little water that trucks bring is not enough, families have too little food and their homemade houses offer too little protection. Their children are the first to suffer from these problems.” [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
A woman brings her child to the mobile clinic that travels around the area. When possible, the parents are given medication. If the sickness is severe, the children and their parents are sent to the larger stabilisation centre in Kismayo. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
Nutrition screener Hawa Dakane Ahmed of Save the Children’s mobile clinic supports Juhara Ali, age 28, as she carries her four-year-old daughter Ubah to receive a checkup in the Luglow IDP settlement. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
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Somalia drought
“My daughter has a disability, and she has been immobilised since birth,” Ali says about her child, who is suffering from severe malnutrition. “I also have a 14-month-old child and I am currently pregnant.” Ali and her two children walked for five days and nights before reaching the refugee settlement – she fled from her village after all of her livestock died. “Ubah’s situation has deteriorated in the last four months; she hasn't been eating properly and vomits whatever I gave her.” The morning after this picture was taken, Ubah passed away. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
The area around Luglow is littered with the rotting carcasses of camels, goats, cows and sheep. According to a Save the Children assessment, 700,000 animals have died as a result of the ongoing drought in two months. If the animals die because of lack of food and water, villagers often take the corpses to one side of the town so that the smell of the rotting cadavers will not be taken through their village by the wind. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
Wards in the stabilisation centre of Kismayo, where children are admitted with severe malnutrition as a direct result of the ongoing drought in southern Somalia. “We have 11 children on our ICU right now,” doctor Abshir Adan Mohamed of Kismayo’s stabilisation centre says. “They are part of the 57 children we now have in our wards. All of them are showing signs of malnutrition, like skin infections, rashes and swollen bellies.” Mohamed has seen an increase in the number of children who are coming to the centre. “It is heartbreaking,” he says, “when I see patients coming back. Many parents simply cannot afford food, which means the patients return with malnutrition issues.” [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
Muridi Haji, age two, is held by his father Abdelkader Haji, age 27. The regional stabilisation centre in Kismayo is busy. Parents sit with crying, exhausted children in an open space. Those who can afford it can come here to have their malnourished children strengthened under medical supervision. The children are already receiving an IV when the resident doctor makes his rounds to cater to the newcomers. The distress is visible on the faces of the parents who are carrying their children. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia drought
After a visit to the mobile clinic in the Luglow IDP camp, Haawo Abass, age 20, was told to take her 16-month-old son, Abdelnasr, to the stabilisation centre in Kismayo. The boy suffers from kwashiorkor, also called protein malnutrition, which causes a skin condition that can lead to pigmentary changes. The disease typically strikes during the weaning period and affects children in the second year of their lives. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia droughts
In the ICU of the stabilisation centre in Kismayo, it’s quite visible what malnutrition does to a child’s body. One girl is sleeping with an IV on her head, her face and legs swollen. A boy has white spots on his stomach; his skin pigment has completely disappeared in some places. The three-month-old boy in this photo is called Abshir Abdulahi. He is suffering from severe malnutrition. In the past week alone, 16 children have died in this region. And if both the rains and humanitarian aid fail to arrive, that number will keep on rising. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]
Somalia Drought Crisis
Travelling through the southern area of Somalia can be perilous. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of the country is controlled by the armed group al-Shabab. In these areas, humanitarian agencies do not have any access. About 10km from the settlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Luglow, enemy territory begins. For IDPs who have to flee their homes, this means that their freedom of movement is limited, especially in the rural areas. [Joost Bastmeijer/Al Jazeera]