Somalia: Drought puts millions at risk of hunger

Somalia is on the brink of a deepening humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 6.5 million[1] people facing acute food insecurity as prolonged drought devastates livelihood across the country.

After two consecutive failed rainy seasons, fear of a renewed slide toward the catastrophic levels of hunger seen in 2022 is high.

Pastoralism is the backbone of the Somali economy, supporting more than 60% of the population. Now it is collapsing under the weight of repeated climate shocks. Livestock are dying in large numbers, stripping families of income and food sources, and driving thousands to seek refuge in makeshift displacement camps.

In Dhusamareb, 61-year-old herder Abdulkadir Mohamed Farah watches the horizon with growing dread. In less than a year, he lost 90% of his goats and more than two thirds of his camels.

“The livestock, both camels and goats, have been lost. Now we fear that people may follow,” he says. “The animals are dying. They have nothing to eat. I had 500 goats, only 50 remain. I had 70 camels, 20 are left.”

For pastoralist communities, the loss of animals does not only mean lost income, it marks the collapse of their entire way of life, often forcing them to leave rural areas in search of assistance.

Near Dangoroyo, in the country’s northern Nugal region, Maymun Ali Mohamed, 19, recently arrived at a settlement for internally displaced persons. After her animals perished, she fled to the camp seeking refuge with her two young children.

“When I saw the animals dying, I decided to move and stay with relatives. … I told myself my young children must not die,” Maymun says.

Displacement is on the rise in Somalia. In 2025, over half a million people were forced from their homes by the combined effects of conflict and drought that made already fragile communities even more vulnerable.

“The fighting has caused displacement. The drought has caused displacement… The situation will become desperate if the rains don’t come soon,” said Mohamed Sheikh, who oversees ICRC operations in Galmudug region.

At the same time, humanitarian funding for Somalia has sharply decreased, forcing many organizations to close programmes, limiting food and water assistance, as well as healthcare and livelihood support, even as needs are rising sharply.

Without urgent rainfall and a significant scale-up of the humanitarian response, millions of people could slip deeper into emergency levels of hunger.

ICRC response from November 2025 to date:

• More than 5,000 families displaced by the armed conflict in the Al-Miskat hills of the Bari region in Puntland, who were also severely affected by drought, received USD 120 each to help meet their basic needs.
• Communities in drought-affected areas of Bari and Sanaag gained access to water following the rehabilitation of five boreholes.
• Donated electromechanical equipment adequate for the rehabilitation of five boreholes (pumping units, control panels, generators, pipes and cables, among others) to the Puntland Water Development Agency (PWDA).
• Children under five with severe malnutrition and medical complications receive life-saving care at the ICRC-run stabilization centre in Kismayo General Hospital, while communities across the country access nutritional services at 11 Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) clinics.