Over 500,000 in the south facing a "major crisis"

Hundreds of thousands of people in southern Somalia are at risk of starvation due to drought and economic turmoil, a press statement by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday, 28 December. "The situation is particularly acute in Gedo Region [in the southwest], and parts of Bay and Bakol [in south-central Somalia]", where the almost complete failure of the main Gu harvest in August greatly reduced the amount of food available to people, said the statement. According to the UN agency, no significant improvement is expected with the upcoming Deyr harvest, due to start in January, as rains in much of the worst-hit areas have been patchy and well below normal. "For months now we have been warning about a major crisis developing in Somalia," said WFP's country director for Somalia, Kevin Farrell. "I now strongly fear that the situation will deteriorate even further unless the level of humanitarian assistance increases substantially." Farrell said malnutrition rates among children under the age of five in Gedo Region had reached very alarming levels, reflecting the extent of the food shortages faced by Somali families, and their limited ability to cope. According to Farrell, over recent weeks the difficulties faced by families have been exacerbated by the reduction of overseas remittances resulting from the closure in November of Al-Barakaat, the main money transfer company in Somalia, on charges of acting as a conduit for the transfer of funds to terrorists. Another factor contributing to the deteriorating situation was the continuing ban on the export of Somali livestock imposed by Saudi Arabia. "The current drought, the very low level of humanitarian assistance, the prevailing climate of insecurity and the fears of further disruption could push an already very precarious situation over the edge," said Farrell.