Fuel prices in Mogadishu surged 150% in March, from $0.60 to $1.50 per litre, with many imported food items doubling in retail price in just two weeks. Somalia's electricity supply, which relies heavily on diesel generators, also saw sharp cost increases, with pressures felt by households as well as schools and hospitals.
MOGADISHU, 31 March 2026 – Prices for food, fuel and water in Somalia soared in March, with conflict in the Middle East compounding a humanitarian emergency in the already fragile country where one in three people are going hungry daily, Save the Children said.
Fuel prices in Mogadishu surged 150% in March, from $0.60 to $1.50 per litre, with many imported food items doubling in retail price in just two weeks, according to the Somali government. Somalia's electricity supply, which relies heavily on diesel generators, also saw sharp cost increases, with pressures felt by households as well as schools and hospitals.
Sorghum and maize prices - staple grains which form part of most family meals - rose by 25% and 33% respectively, while the World Food Programme reported that essential commodity prices across Somalia have increased by at least 20%. Somalia is heavily dependent on food imports, with food imports and food aid making up over 70% of the food consumed, according to the FAO.
Halimo*, a business woman from Puntland in Somalia told Save the Children:
"The cost of living has really gone up for us, especially with fuel becoming so expensive. Every single item has had $10 or $15 added to its price. The amount people used to buy has decreased, and everyone is complaining about it. It is well known that this issue is everywhere; whoever used to buy two sets of groceries now takes just one. All purchasing has declined. Absolutely everything brought to us has gone up in price.”
Rising shipping costs are also directly reducing the volume of food aid that can be purchased and delivered to children and families in Somalia, with the UN reporting severe pipeline disruptions for critical nutritional supplies - including Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, the primary clinical treatment for children with severe acute malnutrition.
The soaring prices are intensifying one of the most severe hunger crises that Somalia has faced in recent years following three failed rainy seasons that have further reduced local agriculture, said Save the Children.
Already one in three people in Somalia –6.5 million people, or about 32% of the population - are facing severe food shortages, with hunger levels approaching the 2022 peak when the country stood on the brink of famine. This is nearly double the number assessed to be facing high levels of acute food insecurity in August 2025, according to the WHO.
The most recent analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) — the leading international authority on the severity of hunger crises—found that 1.84 million children under five, or over 61,000 classrooms of children, are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition across 2026, including 483,000 severe cases requiring urgent treatment.
Disease is making the situation worse, with Save the Children recording outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea, cholera, measles, and diphtheria in parts of southern and central Somalia, each of which accelerates acute malnutrition in young children.
Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, Save the Children's Country Director for Somalia, said:
“When one in three people cannot access enough food to survive, it is already a crisis. The Middle East conflict is now making everything harder - food that was barely affordable is now out of reach, fuel costs are eating into every aspect of the response, and the therapeutic food that keeps severely malnourished children alive is stuck in disrupted supply chains. Somalia cannot absorb any more shocks without catastrophic consequences for children.
“The international community stepped up in 2022 to prevent a famine. We need that same urgency today. Donors must close the funding gap immediately, and global actors must ensure that humanitarian supply chains to countries like Somalia are not sacrificed to the consequences of conflicts elsewhere. Every week of delay has a direct cost in children's lives.”
Somalia's 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requires $852 million to reach those in greatest need. It remains critically underfunded - only 10.9% funded as of early March. As a result, about 600,000 vulnerable people have already lost access to food and cash assistance.
Save the Children is currently responding across Somalia, delivering food assistance, nutrition treatment, clean water, child protection services, and education support to children and families across the country. Our teams are working to maintain continuity of services despite rising operational costs and compounding supply delays.
Save the Children has been working in Somalia since 1951, delivering life-saving health, nutrition, education and protection services. In 2025, Save the Children reached 3.5 million people, including 1.9 million children across 17 regions in the country.
