Somalia: Hunger increases as El Niño floods loom, says UN

| September 7, 2015

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Scientists are predicting that the El Niño phenomenon, a warming of the sea surface in the Pacific, will be the biggest since 1997. They warn that El Niño will cause heavy rains across east Africa, and that Somalia will face severe flooding. The phenomenon is strengthening and is likely to peak in three to seven months’ time, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

The UN warns, “This is likely to lead to disease, loss of crops and property, and to deterioration in the food security and nutritional situations.”

According to the United Nations, the number of Somalis without enough food has risen in the past six months; the UN predicts a further increase as the nation braces for the worst flooding in decades.

More than three million Somalis, or about one-third of the population, need emergency aid. About 215,000 children under five are malnourished.

To read the full article, go to: http://www.trust.org/item/20150831132346-nfqx6/

For more information on El Niño, go to: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/ena/wfp276236.pdf

Photo: A displaced Somali woman carries a child and her belongings as she arrives at a temporary dwelling after fleeing famine in the Marka Lower Shebbele regions to the capital Mogadishu, September 20, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Feisal Omar