(ERGO) – More than 4.5 million people face acute shortages of food, water, and shelter across Somalia, due to renewed conflict and territorial takeovers by Al-Shabaab group, as well as continuing biting drought.
A report in December by Somalia Disaster Management Agency (SODMA) and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management said people had been forced to leave their homes, farms, livestock, and all sources of income. Many arrived in overcrowded camps with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.
Mohamed Nur Ali and his family fled fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab in Adan-Yabaal district in mid-2025 and now lives in Alla-Magan IDP camp on the outskirts of Jowhar. He says hunger and lack of shelter have made life unbearable for his children, the youngest two years old.
“Food is scarce and we struggle to find it. We can only afford to light a fire once a day, twice is impossible. We rely on relatives in Mogadishu, asking them to help us. Whatever one of two dollars they give us we use to prepare food for the children for a day,” Mohamed said.
Mohamed’s family depended on farming and livestock. Repeated poor rains had meant he was unable to cultivate his two-and-a-half-hectare farm in Adan-Yabal for two seasons. When fighting suddenly reached their village, they had to run for their lives.
Alla-Magan camp hosts families displaced from Hawadley, El-Baraf, Biya-Ade, Masjid Ali Gaduud, and parts of Hiran. The camp has no borehole, leaving private water sources far from the site the only option.
“One jerrycan costs 2,000 shillings, and even that amount is hard to find. You are forced to ask neighbours to give you just a small container for the children to drink. There are serious problems here and no nearby water source. Sometimes we go an entire day without food or water and sleep like that,” Mohamed said.
They fled Adan-Yabal when fighting broke out and moved to the nearby War-dhagah area, hoping the government would retake the district so they could return home.
However, Al-Shabaab also took control of War-dhagah, forcing the family to flee again. They walked for five days to Jowhar, where they arrived in July.
Mohamed says his children have had persistent coughs and fevers for nearly a month. There is no health facility in the camp and they have no money for hospital treatment elsewhere. The children show signs of malnutrition.
They left behind three room iron-sheet house, two traditional huts, a latrine, a water reservoir, household belongings, and 25 goats. The goats were too weak to survive the 70-kilometre journey to Jowhar.
Ali Hussein Abdi and his wife and eight children have spent seven months in Jowhar-Bile camp, where they have to beg for food.
“Kind people bring us cooked or raw food, and that is how we survive here. We have no way to light a fire ourselves. The biggest challenges we face are lack of shelter and food, water shortage, and no health services. We can’t access any of these. We are living in an open area during the harshest part of the dry season. Conflict and drought combined against us,” Ali said.
Ali goes out looking for work on farms around Jowhar but usually returns disappointed. Al-Shabaab still controls their village so they can’t go home.
Five of his children miss the free school they were attending in Hawadley.
“My children were attending school and Koranic classes, but now they stay at home without education. I have nowhere to take them because I can’t afford school materials. This school year has passed for my children. Schools in town are far, I can’t afford transport, and they can’t walk that distance,” he said.
The family has a one-hectare farm and two thatched rooms in Hawadley that he thinks are being occupied by Al-Shabaab.
Hirshabelle’s deputy minister for humanitarian affairs, Omar Mohamed Omar, said more than 50,000 families had been displaced from villages and districts retaken by Al-Shabaab since early 2024.
“The humanitarian consequences include serious risks to human and livestock life. Children under five are suffering from malnutrition. Food insecurity is widespread – anyone who manages one meal a day is considered lucky. Most Somalis depend on farming and livestock. When people lose what they rely on, the impact is severe. Displaced people do not have access to health care, education, or clean water in the areas they flee to,” he told Radio Ergo.
He warned that the situation was likely to deteriorate further due to failed seasonal rains and continued insecurity, preventing families from returning home. Limited aid has been delivered in some areas in collaboration with SODMA, but this falls far short of the growing needs.
