More than 100 people have starved to death in a single region of Somalia within 48 hours due to a severe drought, the country’s prime minister has said.

In the first drought-related death toll announced since Somalia's government declared a national disaster on Tuesday, Hassan Khaire told the nation’s drought committee 110 people had died from hunger in two days in the southwestern Bay region alone.

It comes amid warnings of potential for a full-blown famine, with the UN estimating that five million people in the country are currently in need of aid.

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Thousands have been arriving in Somalia's capital Mogadishu over recent days in search of food aid, with 7,000 internally displaced people having recently checked into one feeding centre.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the UN secretary-general in February for a £3.6 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen — all countries connected by a thread of violent conflict.

Last month, Save the Children warned Somalia was at “tipping point” and that the intensifying food crisis was on track to become “far worse” than the 2011 famine, which claimed 260,000 lives.

The NGO claimed that while 12 million people in the area were likely to be affected — with 50,000 children alone facing death — the nation was in danger of being forgotten due to donors being pulled in too many different directions.

Around 363,000 acutely malnourished children “need urgent treatment and nutrition support, including 71,000 who are severely malnourished,” the US Agency for International Development’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently warned.

The government has meanwhile said the widespread hunger “makes people vulnerable to exploitation, human rights abuses and to criminal and terrorist networks.”

There is the additional threat of cholera and other diseases due to lack of clean water in many areas, UN experts said, with some deaths from cholera having already been reported.

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The UN humanitarian appeal for Somalia this year is £703 million, which is required to provide assistance to 3.9 million people, while the UN World Food Program recently requested an additional £21 million plan to respond to the drought.

Shape Created with Sketch. Surviving Somalia: Photographer Ed Ou visits a food project as famine strikes in the East African nation Show all 11 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Surviving Somalia: Photographer Ed Ou visits a food project as famine strikes in the East African nation 1/11 Ed Ou 2/11 Ed Ou 3/11 Ed Ou 4/11 Ed Ou 5/11 Ed Ou 6/11 Ed Ou 7/11 Ed Ou 8/11 Ed Ou 9/11 Ed Ou 10/11 Ed Ou 11/11 Ed Ou 1/11 Ed Ou 2/11 Ed Ou 3/11 Ed Ou 4/11 Ed Ou 5/11 Ed Ou 6/11 Ed Ou 7/11 Ed Ou 8/11 Ed Ou 9/11 Ed Ou 10/11 Ed Ou 11/11 Ed Ou

The death toll comes amid warnings that 100 million people worldwide are facing acute malnutrition and risk starving to death.

Dominique Burgeon, director of the emergency division at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said the number of people at risk would continue to grow, costing millions of lives, if humanitarian aid is not paired with more support for farmers.

The British Government allocated Somalia £100m of humanitarian funding last month, including emergency food and safe drinking water for one million people.

Priti Patel, the International Development Secretary, visited the country in January. She said: “Our message to the international community is clear – they need to act now and urgently, before it is too late to help stop innocent people starving to death.”</s>Somalia: 110 dead from hunger in past 48 hours in drought

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia's prime minister says 110 people have died from hunger in the past 48 hours in a single region as a severe drought threatens millions of people.

 

This is the first drought-related death toll announced by Somalia's government since it declared a national disaster on Tuesday.

 

The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

 

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire spoke Saturday during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee.

 

The death toll he announced is from the Bay region in southwestern Somalia alone.</s>MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s prime minister said Saturday that 110 people have died from hunger in the past 48 hours in a single region — the first death toll announced in a severe drought threatening millions of people across the country.

Somalia’s government declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire spoke during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee. The death toll he announced is from the Bay region in the southwest part of the country alone.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the U.N. secretary-general last month in a $4.4 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. All are connected by a thread of violent conflict, the U.N. chief said.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, was expected to visit Somalia in the next few days.

Thousands have been streaming into Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies. Over 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding center recently.

The drought is the first crisis for Somalia’s newly elected Somali-American leader, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. Previous droughts and a quarter-century of conflict, including ongoing attacks by extremist group al-Shabab, have left the country fragile. Mohamed has appealed to the international community and Somalia’s diaspora of 2 million people for help.

About 363,000 acutely malnourished children in Somalia “need urgent treatment and nutrition support, including 71,000 who are severely malnourished,” the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned.

Because of a lack of clean water in many areas, there is the additional threat of cholera and other diseases, U.N. experts say. Some deaths from cholera already have been reported.

The government has said the widespread hunger “makes people vulnerable to exploitation, human rights abuses and to criminal and terrorist networks.”

The U.N. humanitarian appeal for 2017 for Somalia is $864 million to provide assistance to 3.9 million people. But the U.N. World Food Program recently requested an additional $26 million plan to respond to the drought.</s>Malnourished baby Ali Hassan, 9-months-old, is held at a feeding center in Mogadishu, Somalia, by his mother Fadumo Abdi Ibrahim, who fled the drought in southern Somalia.

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia's prime minister says 110 people have died from hunger in the past 48 hours in a single region as a severe drought threatens millions of people across the country.

It was the first drought-related death toll announced by Somalia's government since it declared a national disaster on Tuesday. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire spoke Saturday during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee. The death toll he announced is from the Bay region in the southwest alone.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the U.N. secretary-general last month in a $4.4 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. All are connected by a thread of violent conflict, the U.N. chief said.

Thousands have been streaming into Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, in recent days in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies. Over 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding center recently.

About 363,000 acutely malnourished children "need urgent treatment and nutrition support, including 71,000 who are severely malnourished," the U.S. Agency for International Development's Famine Early Warning Systems Network has warned.

Because of a lack of clean water in many areas, there is the additional threat of cholera and other diseases, U.N. experts say. Some deaths from cholera already have been reported.

The government has said the widespread hunger "makes people vulnerable to exploitation, human rights abuses and to criminal and terrorist networks."

The U.N. humanitarian appeal for 2017 for Somalia is $864 million to provide assistance to 3.9 million people. But the U.N. World Food Program recently requested an additional $26 million plan to respond to the drought.</s>At least 110 people, most of them women and children, have died from starvation and drought-related illness in Somalia in the past 48 hours, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said Saturday.

Khaire made the announcement while speaking to the drought committee in Mogadishu, four days after President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared the drought a national disaster.

The death toll covers those who died in the rural areas of Somalia’s southwestern Bay region where the drought is more severe than other parts of the country. It was not immediately clear how many others have died in the rest of the country.

“The drought response committee briefed the PM about the humanitarian crises in the country that is threatening the lives of the people and their livestock who are on the brink of dying from hunger and watery diarrhea disease,” Khaire’s office said.

Khaire has urged “business people and everyone to contribute to the drought response efforts aimed at saving the lives of the millions of Somalis dying of hunger and lack of water.”

The country has been hit by a severe drought that has affected more than 6.2 million people who are currently facing food insecurity and lack of clean water because of rivers that are drying up and recent years with little rain.

Earlier in the week, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Peter de Clercq, warned the drought could lead to famine.

“If we do not scale up the drought response immediately, it will cost lives, further destroy livelihoods, and could undermine the pursuit of key state-building and peace-building initiatives,” he warned, adding that a drought — even one this severe — does not automatically have to mean catastrophe.

According to the United Nations, “Somalia is in the grip of an intense drought, induced by two consecutive seasons of poor rainfall. In the worst-affected areas, inadequate rainfall and lack of water has wiped out crops and killed livestock, while communities are being forced to sell their assets, and borrow food and money to survive.”

The United Nations adds that “the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) — managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) — have found that over 6.2 million, or more than half of the country’s population, are now in need of assistance, up from 5 million in September.”

Famine in Somalia killed roughly 258,000 people between 2010 and 2012, according to joint report by the United Nations and the United States Agency for International Development. At the time, humanitarian organization Oxfam criticized the international community’s response to the famine in Somalia, saying “the world was too slow to respond.”

UNICEF lists Somalia among four nations where they say a total of 1.4 million children could die of severe acute malnutrition as famine looms. South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen are also areas of heightened concern.</s>Drought Threatens To Drive Famine In Somalia, As Hunger Kills More Than 100

At least 6.2 million people in Somalia — or just about half the country — are grappling with the prospect of an acute food shortage due to deepening drought. And on Saturday, Somalia's prime minister made it clear that the conditions are exacting a stark human cost.

Over a two-day span, at least 110 people died of hunger in just a single region, Hassan Ali Khaire said Saturday during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee.

"I can confirm that Bay region in the south and other parts of Somalia are deteriorating rapidly," Khaire said, "and my estimation is that half of the country's population has felt the impact of this drought."

As NPR's Eyder Peralta notes for our Newscast unit, the country already declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. As Somalia has dried up, Khaire says the lack of clean water has increased the risks of waterborne diseases, while the ability of malnourished people to fight off those diseases has plummeted.

"It is a difficult situation for the pastoralists and their livestock. Some people have been hit by [hunger] and diarrhoea at the same time," Khaire's office said in a statement. "The Somali government will do its best, and we urge all Somalis, wherever they are, to help and save the dying Somalis."

The United Nations is putting out urgent calls for aid, saying as many as 5 million people need aid in the shadow of a looming famine, according to The Associated Press.

"Thousands have been streaming into Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies," the news service reports. "Over 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding center recently."

If a full-blown famine should descend on Somalia, the World Health Organization says it would be the country's third famine in a quarter-century — and the second in less than a decade.

Citing a joint report by the U.N. and the United States Agency for International Development, CNN reports that famine killed about 258,000 people in Somalia between 2010 and 2012.

But famine is not yet a foregone conclusion.

The AP reports the U.N. is currently appealing for $864 million in humanitarian aid, while "the U.N. World Food Program recently requested an additional $26 million plan to respond to the drought."</s>Prime minister calls on citizens to help as famine resulting from drought leads to rise in deaths in the Bay region.

Somalia's prime minister has announced the deaths of at least 110 people due to hunger and diarrhoea in the country over the past 48 hours amid a drought in the Bay region.

The announcement by Hassan Ali Khaire on Saturday followed the Somali government's warning last week that the drought amounts to a national disaster.

"It is a difficult situation for the pastoralists and their livestock. Some people have been hit by famine and diarrhoea at the same time. In the last 48 hours 110 people died due to famine and diarrhoea in Bay region," Khaire's office said in a statement.

The Bay region is in the southwest part of the country.

READ MORE: Dying of hunger - What is a famine?

"The Somali government will do its best, and we urge all Somalis wherever they are to help and save the dying Somalis," said the statement, released after a meeting of a famine response committee.

Mostly children and elderly people died in villages surrounding the town of Baido, Abdullahi Omar Roble, the government's regional humanitarian chief, told the DPA news agency.

There was not enough medication to treat all of the patients, Roble said.

The drought has led to a spread of acute watery diarrhoea, cholera and measles and nearly 5.5 million people are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.

The cholera outbreak has killed at least 69 since Friday, a local government official said.

More than 70 others have been hospitalised.

UN experts have sounded a warning on deaths related to cholera and other diseases that arise from a lack of clean water.

The UN estimates that five million people nationwide need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

Thousands have streamed into the capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies.

More than 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding centre recently.

READ MORE: Somalia drought forces children out of school

About 363,000 acutely malnourished children in Somalia "need urgent treatment and nutrition support, including 71,000 who are severely malnourished", the US Agency for International Development's Famine Early Warning Systems Network has said.

The Somali government has said the widespread hunger "makes people vulnerable to exploitation, human rights abuses and to criminal and terrorist networks".

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the UN secretary-general last month in a $4.4bn aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen.

In 2011, an estimated 260,000 people starved to death in Somalia.

The UN humanitarian appeal for 2017 for Somalia is $864m, to provide assistance to 3.9 million people.

But the UN World Food Program recently requested an additional $26m plan to respond to the drought.

PHOTOS: Drought in Somalia - Time is Running Out

The drought is the first crisis for Somalia's newly elected Somali-American leader, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who is also known as Farmajo.

Mohamed has appealed to the international community and Somalia's diaspora of two million people for help.

Previous droughts and a quarter-century of conflict, including ongoing attacks by al-Shabab, have left the country fragile.</s>Severe drought has killed 110 people in Somalia in the past 48 hours, Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said Saturday at a meeting of the Somali National Drought Committee.The death toll is specific to the Bay region of the country, but the United Nations estimates that as many as 5 million Somalis — roughly half the country's population — are in need of relief aid as ongoing drought conditions threaten widespread famine conditions.

One in three Somali children are at risk of dropping out of school, the U.N. reports. "I'd love to go back to school, but I've been forced to leave because I'm the eldest child in my family and I need to work at home," said Sadia Omar, who has already dropped out. "I fetch water and grass for the animals, but now because of the drought there is more work."

Cholera also "broke out in Goof-guduud, Awdiinle, and Berdale locations in Bay region," said Mohamed Fiqi, a state agriculture minister. "Children, women and old people are among the dead, the death toll increases." Bonnie Kristian</s>MOGADISHU, SOMALIA—Somalia’s prime minister announced Saturday that 110 people have died from hunger in the past 48 hours in a single region as a severe drought threatens millions of people across the country.

It was the first death toll announced by Somalia’s government since it declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire spoke during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee. The death toll he announced is from the Bay region in the southwest part of the country alone.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the U.N. secretary-general last month in a $4.4 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. All are connected by a thread of violent conflict, the U.N. chief said.</s>MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somalia's prime minister said Saturday that 110 people have died from hunger in the past 48 hours in a single region — the first death toll announced in a severe drought threatening millions of people across the country.

Somalia's government declared the drought a national disaster on Tuesday. The United Nations estimates that 5 million people in this Horn of Africa nation need aid, amid warnings of a full-blown famine.

Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire spoke during a meeting with the Somali National Drought Committee. The death toll he announced is from the Bay region in the southwest part of the country alone.

Somalia was one of four regions singled out by the U.N. secretary-general last month in a US$4.4 billion aid appeal to avert catastrophic hunger and famine, along with northeast Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. All are connected by a thread of violent conflict, the U.N. chief said.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator, Stephen O'Brien, was expected to visit Somalia in the next few days.

Thousands have been streaming into Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, in search of food aid, overwhelming local and international aid agencies. Over 7,000 internally displaced people checked into one feeding center recently.
At least 110 people have died of starvation in the drought-hit region of Bay, Somalia, in the past 48 hours, according to Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre. This comes as the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations are warning of potential famine in the country.