SOMALIA: The Food Crisis Worsens
According to the Relief Web;Â Â
About 1.7 Somalis are facing either a humanitarian emergency or food and livelihood crises and need of urgent assistance, according to the findings of the recently concluded multi-agency seasonal assessment led by the FAO Food Security Analysis Unit (FSAU) in collaboration with FEWS NET. Moreover, the vulnerability of about 400,000 IDPS living in destitute camps in the main towns (mainly in the south) who derive their main livelihoods from menial jobs and social support will likely increase. Pastoral and agropastoral communities in Gedo, Middle and Lower Juba and Bakool Regions are the worst affected by the prevailing drought. Two consecutive seasons of crop failure in southern agricultural regions - the country’s breadbasket — have resulted in serious food shortages. Â
I believe the numbers are higher; however, there are no reliable statistics in the country. The Somali Transitional Federal Government is paralyzed by the political squabbles of the warring Mogadishu warlords and a lack of economic and financial resources. It is a disgrace that the international community is looking blind eyes on Somalia. There are also too many ministers brought through the now infamous “4.5†tribal allocation of political positions who do not have any clue whatsoever about the duties entrusted upon them. The fact is that very few of those ministers have made any contingency plans for the ministries they lead. For instance, the Minister of Agriculture; Xasan Maxamed Nuur (Shaatiguduud) whose responsibilities include food security is busy eating his mangoes under a cool shade of a tree while his countrymen and women are staving to death daily. I do not believe that he even understands what being a minister really means!Â
What can I say? It is a sad state of affair!Â
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