One in three people are facing severe food shortages in Somalia as worsening drought, conflict, and soaring food prices drive up hunger levels, with the situation nearly as bad as in 2022 when the country was on the brink of famine.
MOGADISHU, 25 February 2026 – One in three people are facing severe food shortages in Somalia as worsening drought, conflict, and soaring food prices drive up hunger levels, with the situation nearly as bad as in 2022 when the country was on the brink of famine, Save the Children said.
The drought follows four consecutive failed rainy seasons, which have exhausted food reserves in several regions, leaving 32% of the population facing hunger, according to new figures from global hunger monitor, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
The figures reveal that 6.5 million people, or just over a third of the population, are now experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. This includes over 2 million people facing emergency levels of food insecurity, or Phase 4, the second-highest IPC level when urgent action is needed to save lives and livelihoods.
The current food crisis mirrors Somalia’s devastating drought in 2022, when 6.7 million people were estimated to be facing acute food insecurity. The UN warned that people in three areas of southwest Somalia, including Baidoa and Burhakaba districts, faced famine between October and December without urgent assistance.
As is the case today, the crisis then was driven by the longest, most severe drought in over 40 years, combined with conflict and high food prices.
The new data estimated that over 1.84 million children aged 6–59 months will be suffering from acute malnutrition by December 2026, including 483,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) that require urgent treatment.
Save the Children said diseases are exacerbating acute malnutrition among children, with outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea, cholera, measles, and diphtheria in parts of southern and central regions of Somalia. Additionally, reduced humanitarian funding has reduced access to health and nutrition services, putting more children in danger.
Mohamed Mohamud Hassan, Country Director for Save the Children in Somalia, said:
“When one in three people cannot access enough food to survive, it is a clear warning that the situation is rapidly sliding back toward the desperation we witnessed in 2022.
“The international community stepped up then to prevent a famine. We need that same urgency today, before these rising levels of hunger become impossible to reverse.”
Save the Children is calling on the international community to urgently increase humanitarian funding to meet the needs of over 6.5 million people requiring assistance, prioritise support for nutrition and health programs to prevent child deaths, invest in longer-term resilience programming, and ensure aid reaches the most affected populations.
Save the Children has been working in Somalia since 1951, delivering life-saving health, nutrition, education and protection services.
ENDS
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