Middle East conflict disrupts aid supplies as Somali child malnutrition worsens

Saturday May 16, 2026

UNICEF/UN0591078/Taxta On 3 February 2022 in Somalia, a child feeds on a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) packet while his mother holds him waiting to receive assistance at Community Empowerment and Development Action Health Centre in Dolow.

Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia’s most vulnerable children are being pushed to the front of a deepening global hunger emergency, with aid agency CARE warning that conflict in the Middle East and the disruption of major shipping lanes are driving up the price of lifesaving food aid.

CARE said the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has forced humanitarian shipments onto longer routes, creating delays and sending transport costs soaring. Somalia is already feeling the impact, as imported therapeutic food used to treat severe acute malnutrition in children under 5 has become dramatically more expensive.

In Somalia, the cost of bringing in 4,500 kilograms of peanut-based therapeutic food has more than tripled in just two months, CARE said. A carton that once cost $55 through Gulf supply routes now costs $200 from an emergency alternative supplier.

The spike means a treatment program originally designed to help 300 children will now reach only 83 of the most severe cases, the organization said. For children who do not receive treatment, the consequences can be fatal.

“This crisis is stealing choices from us and chances from children. Every delay, every empty shelf, means a child we cannot reach in time. Parents are watching their children grow weaker, knowing help exists but cannot arrive. When life‑saving treatment doesn’t come, hunger becomes a death sentence and that should never be the reality for a child,” said CARE Somalia Country Director Ummy Dubow.

Somalia was already among the world’s most food-insecure countries, with repeated drought, conflict, displacement and poverty steadily eroding families’ ability to survive repeated shocks.

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis, one in three people in Somalia is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or above. Nearly 2 million people are in Emergency, or IPC Phase 4, indicating severe food shortages.

That number is more than 500,000 higher than earlier projections, underscoring how quickly the situation has worsened. Nearly 1.9 million children are expected to require treatment for acute malnutrition in 2026.

CARE said the fallout extends well beyond Somalia. Sub-Saharan Africa remains highly exposed to the economic effects of the war because many countries rely heavily on imported fuel, fertilizer and food.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that a 10% decline in fertilizer availability could drive regional food inflation up by 8%, making staple foods even less affordable for millions of households.

In Malawi, more than 4 million people — nearly a quarter of the population — are already facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity. CARE said about 35% of Malawi’s urea imports and 23% of its fertilizer imports depend on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Fuel prices there have already climbed by about 35%.

Aid workers said surging food and fuel costs are hitting women and girls hardest, since they often cut back on their own meals, sell off household belongings or leave school when families are under pressure. CARE said the strain is also increasing the risk of harmful coping measures, including early marriage.

“The conflict is affecting humanitarian work in Malawi by redirecting attention, funding, and logistics away from Southern Africa. Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) has not been spared from these effects. Recent fuel price increases have further driven up the cost of project implementation, making it more challenging to deliver support efficiently to communities in need,” said Mandinda Zungu, Executive Director of CADECOM, CARE’s Humanitarian Partnership Platform Partner in Malawi.

The World Food Program has projected that 45 million more people could face acute hunger worldwide by June if the conflict continues and oil prices stay above $100 a barrel.

CARE officials warned that higher food, fuel and transport costs are hitting at the same time as deep global aid cuts, leaving humanitarian agencies with fewer resources just as needs are growing.

“The spiraling cost of food, fuel and transport, following the largest annual aid cut in history, will have devastating consequences for global humanitarian operations and most importantly, for people facing the impacts of hunger, climate change or conflict,” said Robyn Savage, CARE’s roving humanitarian director. “We know from experience that the burden often falls heaviest on women and girls. When food is scarce, they eat less and eat last.”

CARE called for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, while cautioning that even if access were restored immediately, it would take time for humanitarian supply chains to recover from months of disruption.