Humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia deepens

An already severe humanitarian crisis in southern Somalia is worsening due to failed rains and a collapsing economy, according to a joint report by the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) and the international NGO CARE. For the third year in succession since El Nino related floods in 1998, much of Somalia has suffered erratic weather patterns and consequently enjoyed only one good harvest. As a consequence, as many as 450,000 people in southern Somalia are now suffering severe food shortages. Following the failure of the main Gu (spring) rains earlier in the year, the latter Deyr (Autumn) rains have been erratic and below average making the prospect of a short rains harvest unlikely. Moreover, grazing pasture has not recovered, particularly in the Gedo region of southern Somalia. A recent Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) report estimated a 50-60 percent mortality among livestock. The joint report said that on top of these climatic difficulties, the livelihood of the people of southern Somalia is further threatened by ongoing inter-clan conflict which makes humanitarian access difficult and severe economic crisis brought by the ongoing ban on the export of Somali livestock imposed by the economically crucial Saudi Arabian market. Moreover, last months closure by the United States authorities of the Al-Barakaat money transfer company which funnels hundreds of millions of dollars into the Somali economy each year, has further exacerbated the economic collapse. Al-Barakaat was closed down in November on charges of acting as a conduit for the transfer of funds to terrorists. Moreover, a number of well-placed media sources have recently been speculating that the United States administration is considering an attack on Somalia as part of its war on terrorism, a prospect which the FEWS/CARE report concluded would "seriously complicate the situation, and would make humanitarian access much more difficult."