Children across Somalia are facing catastrophic levels of hunger after four consecutive failed rainy seasons wiped out crops and livestock, leaving families without food or income, Save the Children warned. The organization said the next few months will be critical to prevent widespread child deaths as the country endures one of its harshest dry seasons in years.
A new assessment across six regions found that nearly nine in ten households are facing severe food shortages. In Mogadishu’s Benadir region, 93% of families reported “poor” food consumption, while only 2% have enough to eat. Across central Somalia, families are skipping meals or selling off their remaining livestock and tools—cutting off future sources of food and income. In Gedo region alone, over 1,100 children have dropped out of school, while nearly half of families in Galgadud have withdrawn children so they can join the search for food or migrate.
“The crisis unfolding in Somalia represents a betrayal of the world’s most vulnerable children and families,” said Mohamed Mohamud Hassan, Save the Children’s Country Director in Somalia. “After years of drought and near famine in 2022, Somali families are being abandoned just when they need help the most. Children are arriving at health centres in critical condition, surviving on just one meal a day.”
The government declared a national drought emergency in November 2025—its first since narrowly avoiding famine three years ago. Today, 4.4 million people, or nearly a quarter of Somalia’s population, are projected to face acute food insecurity through mid‑2026, and 1.85 million children under five are expected to suffer acute malnutrition.
The crisis has worsened as humanitarian funding declines sharply. Food aid coverage has plunged from 1.1 million people in August 2025 to only 350,000 by November, while more than 200 health and nutrition centres have closed nationwide. Many families arriving in displacement camps have lost nearly all their livestock, crops, and household possessions.
Save the Children is urging the international community to step up humanitarian funding and scale up life‑saving nutrition, health, and protection programmes for the 6 million people in need. In December alone, the organization reached over 84,000 people, including 52,000 children, with cash aid, nutrition support, water supplies, and mobile health services.
“Without immediate action,” Hassan warned, “thousands more Somali children could die from hunger in the months ahead.”
