Situation
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The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) reported in September that 1.5 million vulnerable people in Somalia could continue to face Crisis (IPC 3) or worse levels of acute food insecurity through December 2018.*
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While fewer people are suffering from malnutrition compared to this time last year, FEWS NET and FSNAU report that the nutrition situation in Somalia remains concerning, with an overall median prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) of 14 percent, and GAM well above the emergency threshold of 15 percent in many internally displaced persons settlements surveyed. More than 294,000 children are likely to face acute malnutrition from October–December.
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Heavy seasonal gu rainfall has led to overall pasture regeneration and a significantly above-average harvest in southern Somalia, boosting incomes and improving access to food. As a result, food security is expected to improve in most areas of Somalia through December. While the rainfall and humanitarian assistance have mitigated some of the more immediate effects of the severe droughts in 2016/2017, poor households, households affected by riverine flooding, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and pastoralists who lost most of their animals to drought in previous years continue to require emergency food assistance.
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FEWS NET and FSNAU project that some pastoral areas will remain in Crisis conditions until the October–December deyr rains, which are anticipated to be average to above average and result in improved livestock productivity and births and increased agricultural labor opportunities. However, without humanitarian assistance, pastoralists in some areas of northern Somalia could see their food security deteriorate to Crisis or Emergency (IPC 4) levels.
Response
USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) targets food-insecure Somali households and internally displaced populations countrywide with emergency food and nutrition assistance. FFP partners with the UN World Food Program (WFP), other public international organizations and non-governmental organizations on relief, nutrition, livelihoods and resilience-oriented activities. These activities include in-kind food and nutrition assistance as well as cash- and market-based interventions, such as unconditional cash transfers, cash-for-work activities, food vouchers and vocational training. FFP also provides funding for the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition in children and pregnant and lactating women.