Crisis-level food insecurity in Somalia has nearly doubled in a year to 6.5 million people, UN experts warned Tuesday.

somalia, a country in the Horn of Africa, has been hit hard by ongoing conflict, two failed rainy seasons in a row, and cuts to international funding that have reduced food aid supplies.

The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reports that Somalia’s population facing “crisis or worse” levels of acute food insecurity has nearly doubled since early 2025. Between February 2026, this figure has surged to a staggering 6.5 million people.

This includes more than 2 million people now in IPC Phase 4 “emergency” just one step from the “catastrophic” level that signals famine, according to the IPC report.

According to the IPC, an estimated 1.84 million children under five face acute malnutrition in 2026, including 483,000 severe cases needing urgent treatment.

The IPC report attributes this alarming deterioration to worsening drought, rising food prices, and widespread insecurity in central, southern, and parts of northern Somalia.

The crisis is worsened by sharply declining humanitarian assistance, limiting critical support as needs surge.

The UN World Food Programme sounded the alarm Friday, stating it faces a catastrophic shortfall and will be forced to suspend all humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if fresh funding doesn’t arrive soon.

The Rome headquartered agency revealed it has been forced to dramatically reduce emergency food support, dropping from 2.2 million beneficiaries in early 2025 to barely over 600,000 now.

The US suspended aid to Somalia in January after Somali authorities demolished a US-funded WFP warehouse in Mogadishu’s port.

The US announced a resumption of WFP food distribution on January 29.

However, all UN agencies have warned of serious funding shortfalls since Washington began slashing aid following President Donald Trump’s re-election last year.

Levels of acute malnutrition in Somalia have risen for two consecutive years, the IPC report said.

The upcoming April-to-June Gu rains are forecast to be near normal in most parts of Somalia and above normal in certain northern areas. However, this rainfall pattern is likely to bring only a modest improvement in overall food security, with acute needs remaining high.