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CONTEXT
The humanitarian situation in Somalia has been worsened by a recent double climate disaster - drought in two thirds of the country and flooding in other areas - and the impact of political tensions, COVID-19 and the worst desert locust infestation in years. Based on preliminary estimates from the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the 2021 gu cereal harvest in July will be at least 30-40 percent below the long-term average (1995-2020), which will diminish a key source of food and income for farmers and drive an increase in local staple food prices in both rural and urban areas. In addition to weather shocks, food availability and access are further constrained by conflict in southern and central Somalia, uncertainty over the parliamentary and presidential elections, and rising staple cereal prices linked to low domestic production and high global food prices.
Simultaneously, these regions host the largest proportion of internally displaced persons (IDPs); an estimated 1.4 million of the approximately 2.6 million IDPs in Somalia reside in this part of the country.4 The majority of IDPs settle in camps located around large urban centres. Security and logistical constraints limit the data available on population needs in these territories.
To help address these critical information gaps and to assist humanitarian planning in Somalia, REACH monitors needs in southern and central Somalia through the assessment of hard-toreach areas. This assessment provides monthly data and analysis on the humanitarian situation in the settlements located in the 7 target regions of Bay, Bakool, Gedo, Middle Shabelle, Lower Shabelle, Middle Juba and Lower Juba.