Middle Shabelle town on the brink of starvation

Severe drought, depletion of fish stocks and inflation in Somalia's central town of Adale, in the Middle Shabelle region, have pushed many agro-pastoralists and fishermen to the brink of starvation, local officials told IRIN.

"People in Adale and the surrounding villages are on the verge of starvation; they have nothing left," Mohamed Ahmed Yabarow, the deputy district commissioner of Adale district, said on 4 June.

The district's residents, who are mainly agro-pastoralists and fishermen, are suffering not only from a severe drought that has gripped the area but also from depletion of fish stocks.

"Those who had livestock have either lost [them] or are left with little, while the fishermen are more and more coming back with very little or nothing."

The high level of inflation is also contributing to the suffering of the people, he added.

An estimated 45,000 people live in the general Adale district. Yabarow said Adale was hosting not only displaced people from the capital, Mogadishu, but also people who left the countryside after losing their livestock.

Halimo Abdi, a 35-year-old mother of five, is one such person. She abandoned her homestead near Adale after losing all her animals.

"We came here a few months ago because we had nothing left," she recalled.

Abdi said she and her children were now depending on help from well-wishers.

"People give us food from time to time, but there are days when we don't eat," she said.

She added that her children were becoming weak from lack of food.

Farah Abdulle, a community elder, told IRIN that they were getting reports of people dying in outlying villages and others on the "verge of death because of hunger".

Abdulle said that in the village of Garasweyne, 20 km west of Adale, close to 100 families who lost their livestock were "near death".

Photo: Abdi Hassan/IRIN

Severe drought has hit many parts of Somalia

He said no food aid had been distributed in the area since October 2007.

"It is as if we have been abandoned."

Ahmed Ali Arif of Saacid, an official from the only NGO operating in the area, said the situation was desperate, with inadequate food for the people.

"We are seeing children and adults with the tell-tale signs of malnourishment," he disclosed.

Arif said there was an urgent need for assistance before the situation deteriorated any further.

Justus Liku, the Food Security coordinator for CARE, told IRIN the agency was aware of the Adale situation and was attempting to access the area to distribute food but had been unable to do so due to insecurity.

"As soon as the security situation allows, we will distribute food to the population in Adale," Liku said.

According to the UN, an estimated 2.6 million Somalis across the country are in need of aid. The figure is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of the year if the humanitarian situation does not improve.

ah/jm