IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reportedly spent $13 million in August to help households affected by drought and inflation in Somalia.
More than 150,000 households, mostly in southern and central Somalia, received enough money to buy a month’s worth of food, the first in a series of monthly payments intended to provide emergency aid to people forced from their homes.
Each family received $90 to cover the cost of food or other necessary items, through an International Committee of the Red Cross program that totals more than $13 million so far.
“The purpose of cash assistance is to help the most vulnerable people to survive and to minimise debt,” the ICRC said in a statement.
The United Nations warned that a historic fourth consecutive failed rainy season, skyrocketing prices, and underfunded humanitarian responses have increased the number of affected persons.
“It has resulted in a 160 per cent increase in the number of people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity, starvation and disease in Somalia.”
When I received the money, I used $50 to open a small shop.
I am using the rest of the money to buy food for my children,” says Dadir Ahmed Adan, who has been living in the Shil Gadud IDP camp for the past two years.
“I left the Bakool region after losing my cattle due to drought.
The rains failed for three years, so all the animals died.”
The ICRC said the drought had persisted for four consecutive rainy seasons and that its economic impact on the vulnerable communities was aggravated by the protracted armed conflict and rising food and fuel prices.
“With the next rain due in October, rural families, stripped of their livelihoods, continue to flee to towns, hoping to receive help from relatives and aid groups,” the ICRC said.
According to United Nations data, more than 30,000 people were displaced in May, 100,000 in June, while July recorded 83,000.
Since January 2021, more than one million people have been displaced because of the drought.
The ICRC said it supported agricultural cooperatives with training, drought-resistant seeds, farming tools and cash for the fuel needed to irrigate to help people build resilience in the face of the worsening impact of climate shocks.
(Xinhua/NAN)