Famine looms over Somalia as drought, civil war displace millions

Geoff Bennett:

Somalia is experiencing its worst drought in nearly 40 years. And now the country is facing another crisis, a looming famine that by next summer could leave more than 8 million people without enough food to eat. John Yang has the latest.

John Yang:

Geoff poor rain seasons and failed harvests in Somalia are taking a toll on families across the nation. Millions of people have been driven from their homes by conflict or drought, like this mother of seven.

Nurto Mohamed (through translator):

I have fled from the lower Shabelle region. This is the fourth year of drought, cows, goats and farms all perished. I left my husband, three of my sons died on the way due to hunger and thirst as we walked. Four of my children and I managed to reach here. We have nothing.

John Yang:

The United Nations warns that nearly half the country could be in a critical food crisis in the coming months. Jason Beaubien covers global health and development for NPR and he is in Somalia. Jason, what's the food situation there now?

Jason Beaubien, Correspondent, NPR:

It's really dire, particularly in some parts of the country, in the South and the Southwest, people are fleeing from the parched landscapes where their crops have failed, their goats, their sheep, even some of their cattle have died. They're moving into these camps around some of the larger towns in hopes of getting international food aid. What's unfortunate is when they're getting there, they're finding that there really isn't much international food aid. Aid agencies are trying to get in there. They're running up against a lot of problems due to security, due to other issues. And so, people are showing up and finding that there isn't any food for their children.

John Yang:

I know you visited a pediatric ICU ward in Mogadishu, the Capitol. Tell us about that visit. What did you see, what did you hear?

Jason Beaubien:

Yeah, it's — you know, it's really heartbreaking. There are these children who are half of the weight that they should be, you know, they completely lost all of their muscle mass, you know, have no fat left in their face, they can't even swallow. There's so bone thin. And doctors are there, attempting to bring them back. Mothers are waiting by their bedside for these children. And it's not just one or two, the ICU was completely full on the day that we were there. This is happening not just in Mogadishu, further south, in Baidoa, which is pretty much the epicenter of the food crisis, because you've both got the crops failing around there. You've got people flooding in there from many other places, and we were in Baidoa as well. And we're seeing similar situations in the hospitals there with children who are really struggling to survive and doctors trying to get them enough calories to get them back to something above a starvation level.

John Yang:

You mentioned Al-Shabaab, of course, Somalia has been in a civil war for a long time now. Talk about the effect of that, of that conflict on the hunger and food situation?

Jason Beaubien:

Well, to start with, Al-Shabaab has banned international food agencies, international relief agencies from delivering food. So right there, you've got this conflict where people need food. There isn't food being grown on the landscape because it's completely dried out, because of this drought. And yet Al-Shabaab is actively making things as difficult as they can. So, Al-Shabaab is very much viewed as part of the problem here. They also control a lot of the rural territory. So, moving from Mogadishu to a town further down the coast might even be just 90 kilometers. They were having to fly aid 90 kilometers because the roads were in — so insecure because of Al-Shabaab that they — the aid agencies aren't able to move on those roads. And oftentimes government officials aren't able to move on those roads, either.

John Yang:

Is the American security assistance as important as food assistance?

Jason Beaubien:

I'm hearing from people here that it is. I think people were really happy to see that the Biden administration came back and brought back U.S. troops into Somalia this year after the Trump administration had pulled them out right in the last days of the Trump administration. They're working as advisors. They're working with special forces here in Somalia Special Forces to try to strengthen the military so that they can combat Al-Shabaab. And you hear on a regular bases from people here that dealing with Al-Shabaab, getting them under control is part of, not just dealing with this food crisis but dealing with many of the problems facing Somalia at the moment.

So, there's a lot of enthusiasm for having international assistance coming from the U.S. militarily and other countries are also sending in military help. It's seen as very welcome here at the moment.

John Yang:

Jason Beaubien of NPR from Somalia, thank you very much.

Jason Beaubien:

You're welcome.