• Four consecutive failed rainy seasons have destroyed crops and killed livestock
• Islamic Relief Somalia assessment finds 70% of displaced people now eating one meal a day or less
• Next few months are critical as aid agencies face race against time to save lives

Mogadishu, 9 February 2026: A new Islamic Relief assessment in southern Somalia has found shocking food shortages as families flee the region’s worsening drought. Around 3.3 million people in Somalia have been uprooted from their homes, leaving drought-hit rural areas to seek aid in vast camps. Islamic Relief’s assessment in camps around the city of Baidoa, in Bay region, found over 70% of displaced people are eating one meal a day or less, and children in the camps showing visible signs of malnutrition and wasting.

Four consecutive failed rainy seasons have ruined crops and killed livestock, leaving millions of people across the Horn of Africa in need of humanitarian assistance. The crisis is peaking in Somalia – where around 5.9 million people need aid and 1.85 million children are expected to suffer acute malnutrition this year – but parts of Kenya and Ethiopia are also badly hit.

The next few months are critical to provide aid that will save lives and protect livelihoods. Conditions are expected to worsen further as Somalia enters its dry season until at least March, with harvests in Bay region projected to produce just 10% of the average yield. Food prices are already increasing due to scarcity of supplies.

Islamic Relief is working with affected communities across the region. In Somalia the charity is providing food and other aid to camps in Baidoa, and helping rural farmers to stay on their land. In northeast Kenya Islamic Relief is rehabilitating water sources for communities and their livestock, and in southern Ethiopia it’s providing cash and nutrition support.

Climate change is driving increasingly frequent extreme weather events in the Horn of Africa – this latest drought comes as the region is still recovering from its worst drought in 70 years due to successive failed rains between 2021 and 2023, which was followed by deadly floods. Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya produce only around 0.1% of global carbon emissions, yet people there are paying the highest price of the global climate crisis.

A surge in international aid helped prevent mass famine in 2023, but now global aid cuts are making the situation worse. Hundreds of health and nutrition centres across Somalia have had to shut down and the UN has had to slash emergency food assistance to 750,000 people due to lack of funds. Last year’s UN appeal for Somalia received only 23% of the funding it needed.

Aliow Mohamed, Islamic Relief’s Country Director in Somalia, said:

“The situation is desperate but we fear the worst is yet to come. Our teams across Somalia are already seeing livestock deaths, water scarcity, and rising malnutrition. Masses of people are fleeing rural areas for camps where they hope to get some aid, but there is not enough aid for everyone. In many places local communities are providing new arrivals with food and water, even though they have barely enough for themselves. The next few months are critical – we must act now to stop this drought turning into famine.

“The cumulative impact of repeated droughts is devastating people’s fragile livelihoods and making it impossible for people to fully recover. Responding early saves lives and is much more cost effective, but too often international governments don’t act until people are dying and it’s too late. We need a long-term solution to these increasingly frequent crises and investment to help people adapt to climate change.”

The drought has also caused critical water shortages. Islamic Relief’s assessment found that people in the camps are travelling between 8 -15 kilometres to get water, either by donkey cart or on foot. A 20 litre jerry can of water used to cost US$0.06 cents before the drought, but now costs $1 – $1.5, with an average displaced family surviving on less than $1.5 per day.

Livestock, which contribute 45% of Somalia’s GDP, have been dying in significant numbers. One person interviewed by Islamic Relief’s assessment has lost 180 out of 200 goats.

Nuuriyo Harimey Aden, 70, walked four days to arrive at the camps in Baidoa with her four grandchildren. She told Islamic Relief: “The few cows I had were killed by the drought and I have nothing left now, endangering my own life and the lives of my grandchildren. Our only source of livelihood has been wiped out by the drought.”

Local practices also exacerbate the crisis and make people more vulnerable. Mass tree felling is illegal in Somalia, but in reality commercial logging and charcoal production is widespread, which has removed a key natural defence to drought and floods.

Islamic Relief Somalia’s senior communications coordinator Awil Abukar Mohamed said: “Climate change and tree stripping must be tackled in Somalia. I don’t recognise the area I grew up in because the trees have all gone, and it’s the same for many Somalis. Once you cut down a large tree the smaller ones around it also die. This trend has increased soil erosion and desertification, reduced grazing for animals, and is destroying the climate. We must find ways to provide alternative livelihoods so that Somalis can earn a living through other ways than cutting down these trees.”

Notes

?       The government of Somalia issued a declaration of national drought in November 2025 and has appealed for urgent action to prevent further deterioration of the situation.  

?       In November the UN announced that funding cuts have forced agencies to cut emergency food aid from 1.1 million people to 350,000 people.