Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012

Author(s)
Checchi, F. and Robinson, W.C.
Pages
87pp
Date published
01 Jan 2013
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Assessment & Analysis, Food and nutrition, Food security
Countries
Somalia
Organisations
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)

Study Suggests 258,000 Somalis died due to severe food insecurity and famine

Half of deaths were children under 5

NAIROBI/WASHINGTON May 2, 2013 — A new study estimates that famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under 5.

Jointly funded and commissioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU) and the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the study is the first scientific estimate of the death toll from the food security emergency. The study suggests:

An estimated 4.6 percent of the total population and 10 percent of children under 5 died in Southern and Central Somalia.

Lower Shabelle, Mogadishu, and Bay were hardest hit, with the proportion of children under 5 who died in these areas estimated to be about 18 percent, 17 percent, and 13 percent, respectively.

Mortality peaked at about 30,000 excess deaths per month between May and August 2011.