The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is sounding the alarm that its lifesaving emergency food and nutrition assistance in Somalia is at imminent risk of grinding to a halt without immediate new funding. The organization's resources are expected to be depleted within weeks without urgent replenishment, as Somalia faces an "extremely worrying humanitarian situation" with 4.4 million people experiencing acute hunger.
“Somalia is in the midst of a very complex hunger crisis. Two rainy seasons have failed. Conflict and insecurity persist,” said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response, on Friday during a briefing for reporters in Geneva.
“Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes in search of shelter, food, and basic services. All of these have pushed the Somalia humanitarian response to the brink.”
Matters are made worse by the sharp drop in humanitarian funding. Unless new and urgent funding is received, WFP’s life-saving emergency food and nutrition assistance in Somalia will come to an end in a few weeks.
While issuing the alert, Smith said “the world must pay attention to the millions of vulnerable women, men, and children suffering in Somalia. And sadly, we’ve been down this road before.”
In November, the Somali government declared a national drought emergency, triggered by severe water shortages, crop and livestock losses, and large-scale displacement. These conditions are reminiscent of the 2022 crisis, when famine was narrowly averted thanks to significant international support.
“Today, most of the food security data points are flashing red. Our early warning systems, which we manage alongside partners and counterparts, indicate that we’re on the same path as previous food crises in Somalia,” the WFP official said.
Due to drastic funding cuts, only one in seven people in need receives support
Somalia is facing one of the most complex hunger crises in recent years amid a sharp drop in humanitarian funding. A quarter of the population — 4.4 million people — are facing crisis levels of food insecurity (IPC3) or worse. This includes nearly one million women, men, and children who are experiencing emergency levels of hunger.
The nutritional situation is just as alarming. Nearly 1.9 million children under five are suffering from acute malnutrition. Of those children, over 420,000 face severe acute malnutrition (SAM), while 1.43 million suffer from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Additionally, nearly half a million people have been displaced in the past five months.
WFP is the largest humanitarian organization in Somalia, working alongside partners to support most of the country's food security response. However, due to the drastic funding cuts, the UN agency can only reach one in seven people in need.
“We’re currently assisting only 640,000 out of the 4.4 million people facing crisis levels of hunger. This is down from the 2.2 million people WFP supported with emergency food assistance this time last year,” Smith said
Nutrition programs have been slashed, reducing assistance from nearly 400,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children in October 2025 to just 90,000 in December. Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to halt its humanitarian assistance by April.
“The lack of resources has meant that we’ve been forced to repeatedly reduce the vital assistance we are able to provide. We had no choice but to reduce our food and nutrition assistance by more than half in 2025 due to funding shortfalls,” Smith added, stressing that international support was needed now to prevent famine and build resilience.
“We are at the precipice of another decisive moment; without urgent action, we may be unable to reach the most vulnerable in time, most of them women and children,” he said.
“WFP and partners are ready to deliver, but we need urgent support to avoid a preventable catastrophe.”
The UN agency urgently requires US$95 million to support the most food-insecure people in Somalia from March to August 2026.
US and Germany turn their backs on those in urgent need of life-saving assistance
In January, the United Nations launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP) to support millions of people in Somalia this year, as funding shortages are jeopardizing humanitarian programs.
This year's plan calls for $852 million in funding, which is 40 percent less than last year's request. However, this reduction is a result of limited resources, not reduced needs. The HNRP aims to support only 2.4 million people in 2026, which is less than half of those in need of humanitarian assistance, leaving significant gaps in essential services.
As of today, the 2026 HNRP has received only 13 percent of its requested funding, or $113 million. Last year, the Response Plan obtained only 27 percent — $397 million — of the requested $1.4 billion.
Sharp cuts in donor funding in 2025, particularly from the United States and Germany, forced humanitarian organizations to scale back or suspend critical programs. These reductions have severely weakened life-saving operations and further deteriorated an already dire humanitarian situation.