Food Security Cluster

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The Dutch government has contributed $28 million to boost relief efforts by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. The UN body said Tuesday the contribution was part of an initiative to scale-up resilience-based development work in countries affected by protracted crises. The …

GARBA HAREY (SoOHA) – Like many Somali herders desperate to save their drought-hit livestock from death, Hassan Hared Omar had been carrying his most feeble goats on his back on the 32 km walk to the river Juba from their village in the southwestern district of Burdhubo. The only borehole …

AFMADOW (SoOHA) – Ismail Mohamed Shangolow used to keep livestock and grow crops on his six-hectare farm in Afmadow, in southern Somalia’s Lower Juba region. But following consecutive failed rains, he has been reduced to working as a middleman in a local livestock market trying to scrape together a living …

KISMAYO (SoOHA) – Dozens of families have been fleeing their homes in drought-hit villages in southern Somalia’s Gedo region, as telecommunications network outages have left them unable to buy food and water. Residents in Duya’a-Garon, Geriley, Awsquran, Darasalam, Damaso, Fafahdun, and Khadijo-haji in Elwak district have been facing intermittent network outages, …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – The United Nations is warning some two million people in Somalia are at risk of starvation, amid the country’s worst drought since 2011, and is calling for more support from the international community. Speaking at the end of a two-day visit to the country, UN Under-Secretary-General Mark Lowcock said decades of …

LAS ANOD(SoOHA) – Abdikani Mohamed Dubba, a recent convert to farming, is delighted to have increased his harvest of vegetables by about five-fold after being exposed to training. Abdikani, who lives Waqdari village south of Lasanod, grows tomatoes, onions, green pepper, red peppers and carrots on his farm irrigated with …

ABUDWAQ (SoOHA) – Five hundred families fleeing severe drought in central Somalia’s northern Galgadud region have arrived in Dabad town, 40 km from Abudwaq, over the past month. The families from Kahandale, Qalanqal and Dha’dher villages left their homes following the failure of the last two rainy seasons. Nuro Osman …

DHOBLEY (SoOHA) – Female soldiers serving in the Kenyan contingent of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) have launched an initiative to support families affected by drought in southern Somalia. On Friday the troops distributed rice, sugar, beans, biscuits, fruit and other food items to about 150 households. Most …

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – More than one million children in Somalia under the age of five face acute malnutrition unless the international community drastically steps up funding for lifesaving interventions, Save the Children warns. According to the latest figures, the current food crisis in Somalia has driven acute malnutrition to serious and …

DADAAB (SoOHA) – A group of 50 Somali women refugees producing traditional handicrafts in the Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya is becoming self-reliant through the promotion of Somali culture. The group, called Yote Farsamo (meaning ‘all technical’ in a mix of Swahili and Somali), are weaving traditional mats, baskets, hats, fans, …