To date, the Emergency Appeal targeting CHF 25,000,000 has received only CHF 1,813,633 (11%) of the required funding. Additional contributions are urgently needed to enable the Somali Red Crescent Society (SRCS) to scale up its response and reach the most vulnerable communities severely affected by the ongoing drought.
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the crisis
Somalia is currently facing one of its worst droughts in decades, following four consecutive failed rainy seasons. On November 10, 2025, the Federal Government declared a national drought emergency as conditions deteriorated across the country. An increasing number of households in many parts of Somalia are facing Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Emergency (IPC Phase 4) outcomes and conditions are expected to further deteriorate in the coming months unless urgent and timely actions are taken. The World Food Programme warns that food insecurity could worsen, with up to 4.4 million people projected to be in crisis or worse between January and March 2026, while 1.85 million children under five are at risk of severe malnutrition through mid-2026.
The drought has devastated agriculture and livestock. Rainfall during the October–December “Deyr” season was less than 30% of normal in many areas, leaving crops to fail and pastures to wither. Livestock deaths are widespread, and rangelands have been severely degraded. Water sources have dried up or become contaminated, forcing communities to rely on expensive trucked water. Temperatures have soared to between 35°C and 40°C, worsening soil dryness and accelerating water scarcity.
Over 185,000 people have been displaced from northern regions such as Togdheer, Sool, and Sanaag, with thousands more leaving Bari, Mudug, and Nugaal in search of water and pasture. In Puntland alone, nearly one million people need assistance, including 130,000 in life-threatening situations. Emergency food aid has sharply declined from 1.1 million recipients in August to just 350,000 in November due to funding shortfalls. Health and nutrition services are also under strain, with hundreds of feeding and stabilization centers at risk of closure.
According to WFP, Somalia is on the cusp of a major humanitarian breakdown. Consecutive rainfall failures, record-low river levels, and collapsing livelihoods mirror the same warning signals that preceded the 2011 famine and the near-famine emergency of 2022. This is not a routine seasonal shock; it marks the re-emergence of a well-documented trajectory toward catastrophe. Nearly one million Somalis are projected to face IPC Phase 4 (Emergency) within weeks, as acute malnutrition rises at an alarming pace. Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) prevalence already exceeds 25% among internally displaced persons (IDPs) and agropastoral livelihood zones, echoing the early stages of the 2011 famine and the late 2021 crisis. The next deterioration is predictable, measurable, and preventable, but only if immediate and decisive action is taken.
The international response remains limited. The UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocated $10 million for early drought action, aiming to assist over 600,000 people. However, Somalia’s 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 23.7% funded, leaving critical gaps in food, water, and health support.
