Somalia drought: Urgent investment can save lives now and earlier action could protect lives in the future

The document highlights a severe malnutrition crisis in Somalia, where over half of all children are affected by a climate-induced drought. It advocates for a shift toward anticipatory action and long-term resilience investments, noting that waiting for official famine declarations often leads to avoidable deaths. Proposed solutions include social protection and cash transfer programs, as well as the mapping and improvement of groundwater systems, though these initiatives currently lack sufficient funding to scale.

• More than 50% of children in Somalia are likely to be malnourished by June of the following year, with some areas projected to face famine by the end of 2022.
• Early humanitarian response is critical because a significant portion of deaths occur before famine is officially declared; for example, approximately 50% of the 260,000 deaths during the 2011 Somalia famine happened prior to the official declaration.
• Anticipatory action is severely underfunded, with research from the Start Network indicating that less than 1% of humanitarian funding is allocated to it, despite half of all humanitarian crises being foreseeable.
• Investing in social protection and cash transfer programs is an effective way to build long-term resilience; a 2018 USAID study indicated that safety net programming in the Horn of Africa can save an average of $230 million annually.
• Improving water systems through groundwater mapping using geospatial imagery and data is underway in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, supported by a $385 million World Bank investment across the Horn of Africa.

APA

Elder, J. (2022). Somalia drought: Urgent investment can save lives now and earlier action could protect lives in the future. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/somalia-drought-impact-children-unicef/

Chicago

Elder, James. Somalia drought: Urgent investment can save lives now and earlier action could protect lives in the future. World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/somalia-drought-impact-children-unicef/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Elder |first1=James |title=Somalia drought: Urgent investment can save lives now and earlier action could protect lives in the future |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=1 November 2022 |url=https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/somalia-drought-impact-children-unicef/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{elder2022somalia, author = {Elder, James}, title = {{Somalia drought: Urgent investment can save lives now and earlier action could protect lives in the future}}, publisher = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.weforum.org/stories/climate-action/somalia-drought-impact-children-unicef/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }