Drought conditions continue to be felt in Puntland and Somaliland where an estimated 1.7 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Recovery from the severe impact will require more than one good rainy season as some areas are reeling from up to four seasons of failed rains.
In Puntland, Bari, Karkaar, Mudug, Nugaal and Sool regions are the most affected. These areas are also experiencing severe water and pasture shortages and low livestock production while the Hawd livelihood zones are experiencing an increased migration of people and livestock.
Poor households are most at risk of acute food insecurity. In Bari and parts of Karkaar regions, water trucking has been ongoing since 2015, but prices are beyond the means of most of the affected people.
A majority of water berkeds are dry or damaged. In many areas, pasture did not regenerate due to poor rainfall and high livestock concentration in areas with little rain and livestock migration is still taking place in large numbers to areas with better pasture, namely in Sanaag.
Livestock body conditions are not expected to improve in the affected areas. The situation could further worsen in the likelihood of a La Niña event. The outlook for Puntland compounds an already dire situation with the food security situation for southern and central Somalia also increasingly worrying.
Puntland authorities have appealed for humanitarian assistance to respond to prolonged severe drought conditions affecting hundreds of thousands of people as the impact of the El Niño-induced drought continues to be felt in most parts.
The Somalia Humanitarian Country Team has revised the “Call for Aid: El Nino and drought in Somalia” which was launched on 31 March, seeking US$127 million to respond to severe drought conditions in Puntland and Somaliland.
Only $49 million of this amount has been mobilized to date and these resources have enabled partners to scale up response.
The Updated Call for Aid seeks to mobilize a remaining $61 million in the remaining period of the appeal to avert a deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to prolonged effects of drought in Puntland and Somaliland.
