Close to a million starves in Somalia as food prices increases #somalia

More than a million hungry Somalis urgently need food aid
due to worsening drought and conflict, a 20 percent
increase since January, the U.N. said on Tuesday.
It is the first time that the number of Somalis in crisis has
increased since the 2011 famine, in which 260,000 people
died, the U.N. said.
"Concerted efforts are urgently required to save lives and
prevent a free fall," U.N. humanitarian coordinator for
Somalia Philippe Lazzarini told a news conference.
The famine was caused by drought, conflict and a ban on
food aid in territory held by the Islamist militant group, al
Shabaab.
In 2014, similar factors are at play. Two failed rains have
resulted in poor harvests, surging food prices, water
shortages and livestock deaths. The August harvest is
estimated to be 37 percent below average following delayed
and erratic March to June "Gu" rains, which Somalis rely on
to grow their crops and water their livestock.
Conflict has cut off trade routes and access to seasonal
agricultural work, which poor families rely upon to buy food.
"In urban areas that came under government control
following the military offensive against insurgents in March
2014... access roads remain under insurgent control and
trade flow is largely blocked, resulting in sharp increases in
staple food prices," the U.N. Food Security and Nutrition
Analysis Unit (FSNAU) said in a statement.
African Union-backed government troops have captured
many towns in south-central Somalia from al Shabaab over
the last three years, but the militants still control swathes of
countryside.
"Aid organisations began using air cargo flights to areas
with no road access. However, it is simply not sufficient to
deliver the volume of humanitarian assistance required,"
said Lazzarini.
"Securing road access for commercial and humanitarian
supplies in addition to having more resources is
indispensable to the sustained delivery."
In Wajid in Bakool region, cereal prices have quadrupled
since January, the FSNAU said, while doubling in other
areas like Bakool's Hudur town.
There are 1,025,000 Somalis in phases three (crisis) and
four (emergency) of the Integrated Food Security Phase
Classification, used by experts to monitor hunger crises,
where phase five equals famine.
Of these, 62 percent are internally displaced, while 27
percent are rural and 11 percent urban residents.
Nearly one in seven children under five (218,000 children)
are acutely malnourished, up by 7 percent since January.
This includes 43,800 severely malnourished children who
risk death without treatment.
The next rains are due in October.