Somalia Faces Severe Hunger as US Ends Most Humanitarian Aid

The International Crisis Group posted on 19 May 2026 a commentary titled "Somalia Barrels Toward Possible Famine amid Aid Cuts" by Chris Newton and Omar Mahmood.

Parts of Somalia face severe hunger and could slip into famine caused by a combination of drought, climate induced flooding, price hikes because of the Iran war, political infighting, and the al-Shabaab insurgency.  

Until recently, the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to Somalia was the United States.  But it has largely ended funding and other donors have not stepped forward to fill the void. 

The Political Case for USAID

 The Hill published on 19 March 2025 a commentary titled "The Challenging but Compelling Political Case for USAID" by J. Brian Attwood, USAID administrator in the Clinton administration.  

The author makes the domestic and international case for retaining the US Agency for International Development while acknowledging that it is a hard sell for many Americans who do not understand why the United States spends tax dollars on foreigners.  

WAMU Podcast: Putting a Face on USAID

 WAMU, American University Radio, posted on 6 February 2025 a 40-minute podcast titled "Donald Trump and Elon Musk Are Targeting USAID."

Although the radio program aired a month ago and USAID is confronting a far more dire situation today, it is one of the few efforts that puts a human face on the dismantling of a proud and important aid organization.  

Dismantle USAID and Make Famine More Likely

 The International Crisis Group published on 28 February 2025 a commentary titled "U.S. Aid Cuts Make Famine More Likely and Easier to Hide" with contributions by Chris Newton and Delaney Simon.  

The Trump administration has put a 90-day hold on most U.S. foreign aid, with devastating effects on the system built over decades for preventing famine.  The result may be more and deadlier famine, with greater impunity for parties using starvation as a weapon of war.

The dismantling of USAID represents more than just a retreat in foreign assistance.  It threatens infrastructure built over decades that, among other things, has served as a means of mitigating the most brutal effects of conflict.  

The Four Famines: Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) held on 6 September 2017 a conference on and published a Q and A titled "The Four Famines: The Alarm Bells Are Ringing, But Who Is Listening?" by Kimberly Flowers, CSIS director for the Global Food Security Project.

Almost 21 million people are at risk of starving in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and northeastern Nigeria. Where there are various explanations for the food shortages, all four potential famines have one thing in common: conflict.

Worst Drought in Ethiopia in More than 50 Years

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network reported on 4 December 2015 that central and eastern Ethiopia faces the worst drought in more than 50 years.  At least 15 million people are expected to require emergency food assistance in 2016, making Ethiopia the country with the largest acutely food insecure population in the world.  Northern Somali region and southern Afar region are already facing an emergency situation. 

Predicting Food Shortages in the Horn of Africa

Smithsonian magazine published in its May 2015 edition a long article titled "The Sheltering Sky" by Ariel Sabar.     

While the article discusses the role of satellite imagery in the Horn of Africa to detect unusual spikes in land temperature, the main focus is Ethiopia and Gabriel Senay, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey.  He designed a system that uses NASA satellites to identify anomalies that can signal crop failure.  Senay's algorithms plot these hot zones along a strip of the Rift Valley normally thought of as a breadbasket. 

Update on Somali Famine 2010-2012

Famine in Somalia. Flickr/United Nations

A new study estimates that famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under five.  The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) commissioned the study.

A two page summary of the study said a combination of events triggered the famine.  First, the eastern Horn of Africa experienced the driest period in 60 years.  Second, donors delivered a low amount of humanitarian aid in southern Somalia in 2010 and much of 2011.  In many areas, conflict and insecurity impeded humanitarian aid and access.  You can access the complete 87 page report titled "Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010-2012" by following the link in the summary.