Attachments
Crisis overview
The humanitarian situation in Somalia is rapidly deteriorating following the failure of the 2025 deyr rains and onset of drought. An estimated 6.5 million people are currently facing Crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification [IPC] Phase 3 or above), of whom 2 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).
Rural agricultural and pastoral communities are among the most affected, facing severe livestock losses, crop failure and water shortages. In pastoral areas, earlier improvements in pasture have been lost as low rainfall and unusually high temperatures have desiccated soil and grazing land. Water points have dried up, rangelands are depleted, and livestock conditions are deteriorating rapidly, severely undermining livestock productivity, milk production, household nutrition and income. In many areas, community coping mechanisms have been exhausted.2 Riverine livelihoods have also been affected, with significant reductions recorded across the two primary rivers – the Juba and the Shabelle – undermining farming households’ capacities to sustain basic agricultural production.
These compounding drought impacts are driving food insecurity, malnutrition and displacement, thereby deepening humanitarian needs among already vulnerable communities with limited coping and recovery options. While the 2026 gu season may provide localized relief in some areas, recovery is unlikely to be immediate given the cumulative effects of extensive land degradation, water depletion, widespread crop failures and weakened livestock body conditions.