Drought killed 43,000 people in Somalia last year
Weather, jihadists and the Ukraine war all share some of the blame
First the rains in Somalia failed in 2021. Then they failed again and again and again and again. For five wet seasons in a row, Somalis looked anxiously to the skies while their crops withered, their cattle perished and many people died of hunger or disease. A new report, released by UN agencies and the Somali government, estimates that there were 43,000 “excess deaths” in the country last year, relative to the typical level. Half of the dead were children under the age of five.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Hunger in the Horn”
From the April 1st 2023 edition
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