Michelle Heuertz, Kha Minh, Eliane Tavares Sanches, Qi Guo and Clara Pires have interviewed Ibrahim Sheik, the Emergency Public Health Manager at CARE Somalia to better understand the impact of the climate crisis on the Somalian Humanitarian crisis.

Somalia is one of the four African countries currently facing the worst and most challenging food crisis in decades. The situation is rapidly deteriorating, with food insecurity and social distress increasing quickly. To better inform you about this topic, we will address the causes and effects of the famine and provide an overview of the aid and humanitarian assistance available in the country. We will also present the expert opinion of Ibrahim Sheikh, whom we reached out to for an interview.

Famine is one of the many severe crises that Somalia, a country in East Africa, has faced over the years. Natural and man-made disasters have ravaged the country for forty years, pushing its population into an ever-worsening crisis. According to CARE, over 4 million people in Somalia are currently victims of a serious hunger crisis, and 1.7 million children are suffering from severe malnutrition due to a lack of resources. The situation will remain critical if their despair stays hidden from the public eye.

Heavy flooding during the recent rains in Somalia in 2023 (Copyright : CARE International)

Climate change is one of the major causes of the famine, and its effects are devastating for the Somali population. The latest drought, caused by numerous consecutive seasons of poor rainfall, has led to severe water scarcity, which in turn has led to the loss of livestock and crop failure. Consequently, the population is pushed to the verge of famine every time a drought strikes.

Severe drought causes large deaths of cattle during one of the last droughts in 2022 (Copyright : Saddam Mohamed)

“Drought often causes severe water shortages for both human and livestock populations and farming. Drought most often triggers conflict over resources, especially water and pastures, between communities (e.g., farmers vs. pastoralists [nomadic communities] or at times between the nomadic communities themselves, especially when water and pasture sources are limited during peak drought seasons),” says Ibrahim Sheikh, Emergency WASH Program Manager at CARE, Somalia.