SOMALIA: Malnutrition stalks once fertile region

"People have not been able to plant their fields, feed their children," says Christian Balslev-Olesen, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) country representative for Somalia.

"Food production has been hit in a dramatic fashion," he adds. "There has been a substantial increase in the number of people fleeing the conflict in Mogadishu [the Somali capital] and now the Shabelles are faced with an imminent threat of flooding as river banks have not been maintained due to conflict and the lack of local capacity."

According to UNICEF, limited access to essential services because of ongoing conflict, significant deterioration in food security and a recent diarrhoea outbreak associated with poor water and hygiene conditions, have resulted in global acute malnutrition rates of 17 percent – 2 percent above the emergency threshold.

Of 83,000 children who are estimated to be malnourished in South and Central Somalia, 35,000 are in Middle Shabelle. Of these, 8,700 are severely malnourished in Shabelle and at greater risk of death, say UNICEF staff in Jowhar, the regional capital.

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