UN agencies warn that hunger in Somalia is worsening fast

All United Nations agencies warned that Somalia's hunger and malnutrition crisis is worsening rapidly. They said there is a growing risk of famine. More than 6 million people, about 31 percent of the population, face critical levels of food insecurity. Nearly 1.9 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

Food insecurity means people lack reliable access to enough food. Critical levels are the severe band of that scale. Acute malnutrition is a dangerous loss of weight and nutrients in children. Of the nearly 1.9 million children in that condition, approximately 493,000 face severe acute malnutrition, the most life-threatening category. Famine is the most extreme declaration of mass starvation, and the agencies warned of a growing risk rather than announcing that a famine had been formally declared.

The warning comes from all UN agencies, not from a single office. Somalia has faced repeated drought, conflict, and displacement that disrupt farming and markets. The report ties the present crisis to a rapid worsening and gives the national share as about 31 percent. More than 6 million is the number of people in critical food insecurity.

Severe acute malnutrition in approximately 493,000 children is the portion of the 1.9 million who are in the gravest clinical state. Those children need therapeutic feeding, not only a larger ration. The report does not list regions inside Somalia or the price of grain. It gives the national human figures.

Humanitarian appeals use numbers of this kind to argue for food aid, cash, and medical treatment. The May warning says the crisis is getting worse quickly. It does not publish a funding total. It does publish the risk of famine and the counts of people and children affected.

More than 6 million Somalis, roughly 31 percent of the country, are in critical food insecurity. Nearly 1.9 million children are acutely malnourished, about 493,000 of them severely. UN agencies say the crisis is worsening fast and that the risk of famine is growing. The warning was issued on May 15.