FSNAU Releases Post Deyr 2013/14 Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Technical Series Report
Issued: March 31, 2014
In November-December 2013, the FSNAU in collaboration with counterpart government line ministries, institutions and several partner agencies carried out food security and nutrition assessments across Somalia. The purpose of the assessment was to gather information required for food security and nutrition situation analysis of rural populations and internally displaced persons (IDP). The livelihoods based analysis provided a snap-shot food security situation analysis for January 2014 and projections for the February to June 2014 period. The food security analysis followed a standardized Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) approach and protocol.
Successive seasons of near to above average rainfall in most parts of Somalia, low food prices and continued humanitarian response have brought down the number of people requiring urgent, lifesaving humanitarian assistance from its peak of 4 million during the 2011 famine. However, the latest assessment findings indicate that the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance has shown no further improvement since August 2013,exacerbated by a below average harvest, conflict, floods, and a tropical cyclone. Acute malnutrition persists, with tens of thousands of children facing increased risk of death, especially in the country’s south.
Assessment results indicate that an estimated 603 000 people across Somalia were found to be in acute food security crisis (IPC Phases 3 & 4) in January 2014. This number is expected to increase to 857 000 people between February and June 2014. The recent figures represent an 18 percent decline since January 2013, but this is a mere 1.5 percent decline since August 2013. The positive impact of increased livestock prices, increasing livestock herd sizes, improved milk availability, low prices of both local and imported staple food commodities, higher purchasing power from labor income and livestock sales as well as sustained humanitarian interventions over the last six months was undermined by a Deyr 2013 cereal harvest in January/February estimated to be 20 percent below the long-term and five-year averages.
The food security condition of over 2 million additional people will remain fragile and are classified as Stressed (IPC Phase 2). These people are barely able to meet their own minimal food requirements through mid-2014, and remain highly vulnerable to shocks that could push them back to food security crisis.
Levels of acute malnutrition remain Critical (Global Acute Malnutrition rates exceeding 15%) among rural populations in many parts of South-Central Somalia and among IDPs. Nutrition survey results indicate that an estimated 203 000 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished. This figure includes 51 000 children that are severely malnourished and consequently face a higher risk of death. A majority of the malnourished children are found among non-IDP populations of the South. Assessment results indicate that morbidity, poor child feeding and care practices are among the main casual factors of malnutrition in Somalia.
The current number of acutely malnourished children is only slightly down (by 1.5%) from the 206 000 malnourished children under the age of five estimated for August 2013. However, the number of children under the age of five that are severely malnourished has increased from 41 000 in August 2013 to 51 000 in January 2014 (an increase of 24%).
Lifesaving humanitarian assistance and livelihood support remain vitally important between now and June 2014 to help food insecure populations meet their immediate food needs. Additional interventions will be required to protect livelihoods and build the resilience of communities against future shocks.
Areas of Concern
IDPs continue to constitute a majority (74%) of the 857 000 people in Crisis and Emergency (IPC Phases 3 & 4). The challenge faced by IDPs includes reliance on marginal and often unreliable livelihood strategies, poor living and sanitary conditions. Populations experiencing acute food security crisis (IPC Phases 3 & 4) are also found in large numbers in rural and urban areas in Sanaag, Sool, Bari, Nugaal, North and South Mudug, Galgaduud, Hiran, and Middle Shabelle as well as Middle and Lower Juba regions. In South-Central Somalia primarily, other areas that have had repeated food security crisis in recent year and that have persistently high levels of acute malnutrition remain a concern.
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