Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

2 min read
22 December 2022 | 09:45am CAT

The United Nations (UN) has warned that Somalia could face its worst famine in half a century. This comes as a result of the ongoing drought, which has seen Somalia endure five successive below-average rainy seasons since the end of 2020.

Photo credit: Save The Children International

One such organisation that has been assisting in aid is the Al Imdad foundation.

Speaking to Radio Islam International live on the ground in Somalia, the Project Coordinator at Al-Imdaad, Moulana Suleiman Danchora says many Somalians have left their ancestral homes to look for assistance.

“A massive exodus of people having to leave their ancestral homes and tribal homes to try and find refuge in places where humanitarian aid organisations are present so that they can be able to get the exposure and access to humanitarian food and water and nutrition,” says Moulana Danchora.

He added that every morning there is an influx of people coming into the camps looking for assistance.

He describes how a 100-year-old woman took the journey by foot while another family used a donkey cart to find humanitarian assistance, however, the donkey could not make the journey and the mother had to walk with her 9 of her children.

“New processions of people arriving every morning extremely hungry, extremely devasted and in very very low spirits,” says Moulana Danchora.

Somalia now produces less than half as much food as it did before the country collapsed into three decades of conflict.

“The onus is for all groups that care is taken for their people that fall under their protectorate,” he says. Adding: “There is a hindrance in as far as humanitarian and delivery aid is concerned and that being said this is the reason why many have migrated from their ancestral and ancient homes to reach cities such as Baidoa and Mogadishu – it is to get away from the difficulty where food aid does not reach them.”

However, Somalia has not declared a famine because certain areas have been affected not the entire population.

Listen to the full interview here with the Project Coordinator at Al-Imdaad, Moulana Suleiman Danchora: