According to a critical evaluation by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) committee, Somalia has narrowly averted a full-scale famine this year.
The greatest drought to hit Somalia in four decades has received praise from the IPC for local and international organizations’ “commendable” responses.
However, avoiding famine—a term that is strictly regulated by experts—does not entail avoiding suffering, hunger, and a large number of fatalities.
And the IPC comes to the conclusion that in the upcoming months, the number of people living in appalling conditions—just short of starvation itself—is anticipated to quadruple.
If more aid is not given immediately, more than 700,000 Somalis will soon go hungry and many will perish.
If that fails, famine may be declared as soon as next April.
In Somalia’s war-torn regions, it can be challenging to get trustworthy data, making these humanitarian assessments slow and stressful.
People frequently become fixated on whether or not the word “famine” is used. However, detractors point out that thousands of children perished in Somalia in 2011, long before famine was declared at the time.
