The UN agency says it may be necessary to cut food rations for Somalia
GENEVA – The World Food Program warns that it may be forced to cut food rations in June for more than a million vulnerable Somalis because they do not have enough money to sustain the operation.
This would be a severe blow to vulnerable people in Somalia who are just coming from similar cuts to their daily food supply. Due to lack of money, WFP says it was forced to cut food rations by 50% for 1.3 million Somalis last month.
WFP recently allocated resources to restore the full rations until June. The UN agency, which is responsible for providing food aid globally, is once again warning its recipients of increased hunger if it does not receive the money needed to keep the program going.
The United Nations estimates that 5.9 million people, half of the country’s population, need humanitarian aid. Currently, WFP supplies food to 1.3 million of the most vulnerable. The agency’s spokesman, Tomson Phiri, described the needy as “the poorest of the poor.”
“These are people who live from meal to meal, and the kind of help you provide is just enough for them to survive. And when we cut it in half, we’re talking about a basic meal. This is not a three course meal. This is not a five course meal. This is not a seven course meal. No. That’s just the basics, ”Phiri said.
Somalia has been unable to feed itself due to man-made factors such as persistent conflict and others, including an attack of desert harvest and the economic effects of COVID-19, drought and floods.
Phiri said lack of funding puts vital nutrition programs at risk. As a consequence, he said, the number of malnutrition is rising, undermining past gains by reducing the number of children suffering from it.
“Without these programs, you are talking about up to 840,000 children who are expected to suffer from moderate acute malnutrition, 143,000 from severe acute malnutrition, and 51,000 are at risk of dying,” Phiri said.
WFP says it needs $ 172 million to continue Somalia operations at current levels for the next six months.
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