Food aid in Somalia could halt within weeks due to funding shortages, WFP warns

Record ID: 2343271

  • Title: Food aid in Somalia could halt within weeks due to funding shortages, WFP warns
  • Date: 20th February 2026
  • Summary: BARADHERE, SOMALIA (FILE - MARCH 13, 2022) (REUTERS) MALNOURISHED CHILD HELD BY HER MOTHER WOMAN SITTING IN SHELTER WITH A CHILD SLEEPING NEXT TO HER VARIOUS OF WOMAN HOLDING MALNOURISHED CHILD ON HER LAP IN HOSPITAL DOLLOW, GEDO REGION, SOMALIA (FILE- MAY 24, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOTHER LYING IN SHELTER WITH HER MALNOURISHED CHILDREN NEXT TO HER MALNOURISHED CHILD S
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: Somalia United Nations WFP cuts famine fundings hunger
  • Location: MOGADISHU, DOLLOW, GEDO REGION, AND BARADHERE, SOMALIA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ROME, ITALY
  • City: MOGADISHU, DOLLOW, GEDO REGION, AND BARADHERE, SOMALIA / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Somalia
  • Topics: Africa,Government/Politics,United Nations
  • Reuters ID: LVA005716520022026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday (February 20) its life-saving food and nutrition assistance in Somalia could grind to a halt by April unless new funding is secured, putting millions of people at risk of worsening hunger.
        An estimated 4.4 million people face crisis-level food insecurity, with nearly one million of them experiencing severe hunger, due to the impact of failed rainy seasons, conflict and declining humanitarian funding, the WFP said.
        "We are very concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country," Ross Smith, WFP director of emergency preparedness and response, told reporters in Geneva. 
        Somalia declared a national drought emergency in November after recurrent seasons of poor rainfall, and other countries in the region have also been hit.
        The WFP, the largest humanitarian agency in Somalia, said it has already scaled back assistance from 2.2 million people earlier this year to just over 600,000 due to funding shortages. Nutrition programs for pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children have also been sharply reduced.
        The agency said it faces a critical moment similar to a crisis in 2022, when famine was narrowly averted following large-scale international support. It is seeking $95 million to sustain operations between March and August.
    (Production: Cecile Mantovani)
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