Friday October 3, 2025
Photo: WFP/Arete/ Mahad Said. WFP Assistance in Ceel Jaale IDP Camp, Somalia.
Mogadishu (HOL) — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will reduce emergency food assistance in Somalia by two-thirds next month, leaving millions of people without critical support as the agency faces a severe funding shortfall.
The WFP said only 350,000 people will receive food assistance in November, down from 1.1 million in August, meaning it can now reach just one in every ten people in urgent need of help to survive.
“We are seeing a dangerous rise in emergency levels of hunger, and our ability to respond is shrinking by the day,” said Ross Smith, WFP’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response. “Without urgent funding, families already pushed to the edge will be left with nothing at a time when they need it most.”
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 4.6 million Somalis face crisis levels of food insecurity or worse (IPC Phase 3+), with nearly 1 million people enduring emergency conditions (IPC 4). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates 1.8 million children under five are acutely malnourished, including 421,000 suffering from severe malnutrition.
The cuts come as Somalia continues to reel from years of conflict, drought, and climate-driven flooding. The al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab maintains control over several rural areas, restricting humanitarian access and complicating relief operations.
Humanitarian agencies say reduced donor support and U.S. foreign aid cuts enacted under the Rescissions Act of 2025, which rescinded nearly $8 billion in global assistance, have further strained response efforts, leaving organizations like WFP operating well below required levels. Much of Somalia’s emergency relief, previously financed through USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), has been disrupted by the pause in disbursements and the agency’s restructuring under the U.S. State Department. The agency currently leads over 90 percent of Somalia’s food security response.
Although Washington restored limited food assistance in April 2025 after warnings from the World Food Programme, overall U.S. contributions remain well below pre-2024 levels.
WFP said it urgently needs $98 million to sustain a minimum level of life-saving operations for 800,000 people through the upcoming lean season, which extends to March 2026.
Humanitarian experts warn that without new funding, Somalia risks sliding into catastrophic hunger conditions reminiscent of the 2011 famine, when more than 250,000 people died.