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MOGADISHU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of people facing acute food insecurity across Somalia has risen to five million, or more than 40 percent of the population, according to a UN report released on Tuesday.
The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit - Somalia run by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that more than 1.1 million Somalis currently cannot meet their daily food requirements, while another 3.9 million Somalis require livelihood support.
An estimated 58 percent of the people who are acutely food insecure are internally displaced, many of them are living in appalling conditions in settlements spread throughout the country, says the report.
It also reveals that the 5 million people include over 300,000 children under five who are acutely malnourished, and among them, more than 50,000 are severely malnourished.
Drought conditions continue in pastoral areas of Somaliland and Puntland, while poor rainfall in southern and central Somalia, the breadbasket of the country, has led to lower cereal production compared to the long-term average, according to the report.
Peter de Clercq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said humanitarian partners are ready to scale up response to help families struggling to find food to make it through the day.
"The Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan for 2016 is 32 percent funded and additional resources are urgently required to boost response," Clercq said.
