Somalia food security alert May 9, 2017

Results from the post-Jilaal assessment and recent SMART surveys indicate that Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of acute food insecurity persist in many areas of Somalia. In addition, a severe AWD/cholera outbreak is ongoing. While large-scale humanitarian assistance has reduced household food consumption gaps and contributed to reduced staple food prices, there remains an elevated risk of Famine (IPC Phase 5) due to the combination of severe food consumption gaps, high acute malnutrition, high disease burden, and reliance on humanitarian assistance. It is now estimated that approximately 2,510,000 people will be in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and 700,000 will be in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) between now and June. Furthermore, given the high likelihood that Gu production will be well below average, food security outcomes are only expected to improve modestly in July/August. Continued large-scale humanitarian assistance, including both food assistance and efforts to prevent and treat AWD/cholera, are needed throughout 2017.