Over 450,000 people face food crisis in the south

The failure of the main Gu rainy season (May-July) in key food-producing areas of southern Somalia has created a serious humanitarian crisis for over 450,000 people. Urgent assistance is now needed to prevent major loss of life, a press release issued on Tuesday by the Somali Aid Coordination Body (SACB), which brings together UN agencies, NGOS and donor partners, warns. The worst-affected area is Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia, where NGOs are reporting "a shocking rise in the number of malnourished women, children and displaced people". The situation is only marginally less acute in Bay and Bakol regions of south-central Somalia, said the statement. The chairman of SACB's food security and rural development committee, Eddie Boyle, said. "Over 40,000 mt of food is urgently required to prevent a major humanitarian crisis." Action contre la faim (ACF), which is running a feeding centre in Luuq town, the only such centre in the region, had reported that attendance levels had increased five-fold in the past two months, said the SACB statement. According to ACF, 4,300 patients were now receiving supplementary and therapeutic treatment, with 200 new people now being screened for admission. The situation would deteriorate further if, as forecast, the Deyr short rains (October-November) also failed, the statement warned. Due to the increase in the number of undernourished people in Gedo Region, CARE is now increasing its programme to assist 240,000 people there. CARE has appealed for 22,000 mt of food to meet humanitarian needs over the next year. According to the statement the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) issued an appeal for 20,000 mt of food in July, but has so far received pledges of only 4,300 mt. The statement quoted the SACB partners as "stressing the urgency of the situation" and "making an appeal for immediate support to CARE and WFP food relief programmes". SACB was also calling for the establishment of additional health and supplementary feeding programmes in Gedo Region, including services in rural areas to reduce "the dangerous concentration of vulnerable groups in urban areas", said the statement.