Somalia famine engulfs half the nation

A child is seen amongst women displaced from southern Somalia by famine sitting at an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp as they wait to receive tarpaulins with which to construct makeshift shelters, Aug. 31, 2011 in the Somalia capital Mogadishu. / Getty

Last Updated 9:37 a.m. ET

NAIROBI, Kenya - Famine has spread into one more region of Somalia and more than 4 million Somalis now need aid, the United Nations said Monday.

Hundreds of Somalis are dying every day, the U.N. Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia found in its latest surveys. At least half of them are children.

About 750,000 more people may die from famine in the next four months if there is no adequate response, the U.N. report said, an increase of 66 percent from July.

The top humanitarian official for Somalia described getting aid to the starving as a "race against time" and warned the famine would probably spread before the end of the year.

"This isn't a short-term crisis," said Mark Bowden, who heads the U.N. office coordinating humanitarian aid to Somalia.

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Bowden said the 4 million Somalis needing aid represent more than half of Somalia's population. He said it is also an increase from 3.7 million Somalis who needed aid in July.

The southern Bay region is the latest area to be declared a famine zone. Nearly 60 percent of people there are acutely malnourished — four times the rate at which an emergency is declared, said Grainne Moloney, head of the food security unit.

"I've not seen anything like it," said Moloney.

Famine has now affected six areas, including four southern Somali regions and two settlements of internally displaced people.

The U.N. says tens of thousands of people already have died in Somalia due to the severe violence, drought and famine. More than 150,000 refugees have sought aid in the last few months. Families in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti have also been affected.

Somalia has been hit hardest, its problems compounded by more than 20 years of civil war and Islamist insurgents that banned many aid agencies, including the U.N.'s World Food Program, from their territory.

The Islamists hold much of Somalia's southern agricultural region. Maloney said a bad drought meant that harvests there are a quarter of normal levels — the worst for 17 years. The price of a day's casual labor had dropped from 33 pounds of cereal to seven pounds, she said.

Bowden said access to areas in the south held by the al-Shabab insurgent militia was improving, and that there were some aid agencies that were able to work there.

"There's a far greater level of coverage than we anticipated," he said.

The U.N. food agency was concentrating on the areas of Somalia it did have access to — about 1.9 million people — and encouraging donors to fund other agencies who had access to southern areas, spokeswoman Challiss McDonough said.

[bajajohn1]

Where are the United Nations? Are they just collecting their money for sitting on their cans?

[technocoffee]

THIS COUNTRY IS BROKE=NO MORE FOREIGN AID!!! Let their billionaire Islamic "brothers" in Saudi Arabia & Kuwait help them!!

[PourpaixPourpaix]

And so resurfaces the concept of the ugly Americans, more concerned with their luxuries than the sufferings of starving people. They call themselves Christians, but are stone deaf on Sundays.

[technocoffee]

Us "ugly Americans" have donated billions upon billions over the years...only to see the famine GET WORSE since the soldiers steal all the aid to eat/sell for themselves...who'd be stupid enough to keep donating to a lost cause??

[stevador39]

The U.S. has uncounted millions of American families who are jobless to to international trade agreements; and homeless due to fraud and usury in the banking system. How is it that we can send money around the world to save the poor. How can the U.S. run a refugee program for foreigners and a 'live on the street' program for Americans.

[vieteravet]

Agreed. The US will soon cease to exist ( political parties will be insignificant) unless the majority US citizens somehow stop being fools.

[smurfula]

I know how to keep them from starving, I also know they have done many evils, BUT, FOR Gods sake, make a choice, save them or bomb them into extinction, I can accept either one, but them enduring a slow death of starvation. Save them or kill them. But don't be Hitler.

[stevador39]

Here's what they tell poor Americans who are jobless and homeless: 'DON'T BREED THEM IF YOU CAN'T FEED THEM.' That's what they need to tell the rest of the world.

[UForgotPoland]

Won't donate a dime, last time we tried to help them they shot rpgs at us. Plus it gets to the point where it's the people's own responsibility to pull themselves together and build a country, instead they've just let anarchy reign for over 20 years.

[ibsteve2u]

Hate is a whole lot more contagious than love.

[GTR5]

With all of the violent problems they have caused, they deserve it. All of the tens of thousands of Somalis that were brought to the US should be returned to Somalia to take care of their problems.

[vieteravet]

Yes, Surely they can help their people. They are needed at home now, more than ever before.

[167irishboy]

We can invade and take over the whole country of Iraq twice in less than a month at a cost of trillions to the U.S. taxpayer, but we can't take out some rebels in this country to feed starving people. Corporate America has turn America into a business instead of a country.

[gohan31]

This is so sad that we attempt to save these people again!! If you FAIL to learn from the mistakes of the past, you are destined to repeat them!