Widespread food shortage in farming areas in the Juba regions has led to high levels of malnutrition among children.
Around 200 malnourished children were admitted to Kismayo general hospital for treatment in the first 10 days of July.
The children came from districts and villages in Lower and Middle Juba regions including Jamame, Afmadow, Badhadhe, Kabsuma, Jilib and Sakow.
These farming areas have no health facilities. Some patients travelled for days to Kismayo seeking treatment.
Khadija Moallim Abdulle, a farmer from Jilib, came to Kismayo from 120 kms away with her sick three year-old daughter. The child had diarrhoea and vomiting and signs of malnutrition.
Dr Mohamed Bashir, the head of the malnutrition ward, said the increased cases of malnutrition in the two regions came after a generally poor harvest in the last three months. Food reserves had already been low because of successive earlier poor harvests.
In June, 167 children were discharged from the hospital after receiving nutritional therapy treatment. Another 120 children suffering from malnutrition are still undergoing treatment. The hospital is supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
