Approximately 850 000 children likely to be acutely malnourished

September 30, 2020, Mogadishu/Washington – Due to the combined effects of widespread and severe flooding, Desert Locust infestation, socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 and the cumulative impacts of previous shocks, up to 2.1 million people across Somalia are expected to face food consumption gaps or depletion of assets indicative of Crisis (IPC Phase 3)^[1] or worse outcomes through December 2020 in the absence of humanitarian assistance. In addition, 849 900 children under the age of five are likely to be acutely malnourished through August 2021. Sustained and large-scale humanitarian assistance and government support are currently preventing more severe outcomes in many areas. Desert Locust continues to pose a serious risk of damage to both pasture and crops at least until the end of 2020.  The 2020 Deyr (October-December) rainfall season is likely to be below average to average across the country, which could lead to drought and trigger a worsening of the humanitarian situation if the 2021 Gu (April-June) season rainfall is also delayed or performs poorly. These findings reflect the outcome of the 2020 post-Gu seasonal food security and nutrition assessment conducted across Somalia during July and August 2020. The assessment and the subsequent analyses were jointly led by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU, a project managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET, a project funded by...