--- description: The U.N. is warning that Somalia, which is struggling with severe drought after two seasons of weak rainfall, could face a return to famine in... title: Somalia on the Verge of Famine As U.N. Pleads for Help image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Somalia on the Verge of Famine As U.N. Pleads for Help by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 16, 2017 10:42 AM CUT by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 16, 2017 10:42 AM CUT The U.N. is warning that Somalia, which is struggling with severe drought after two seasons of weak rainfall, could face a return to famine in April without a “massive” increase in global aid: DEADLY POTENTIAL The looming crisis threatens to be even bigger than a 2011 famine that killed an estimated 260,000 people. Three-quarters of the country’s livestock have already died, numerous open-water sources have dried up, and cereal production has fallen by 75%. ACTING FAST Mindful that funding from the international community came in 2011 only after 13 famine warnings had been ignored, the U.N. made an urgent call on Feb. 2 for donors to give at least $300 million to ease the crisis. MAJOR OBSTACLES There are fears that al-Shabab militants will divert or hold up aid and newly elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed will be unable to ease its passage in a country that lacks a functioning government. The real test, however, is whether fatigued Western nations react fast enough or wait until the numbers of the dead can no longer be ignored. –TARA JOHN ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4672973/somalia-on-the-verge-of-famine-as-u-n-pleads-for-help/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4672973/somalia-on-the-verge-of-famine-as-u-n-pleads-for-help/"},"headline":"Somalia on the Verge of Famine As U.N. Pleads for Help","datePublished":"2017-02-16T10:42:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:21:55.951Z","description":"The U.N. is warning that Somalia, which is struggling with severe drought after two seasons of weak rainfall, could face a return to famine in...","url":"https://time.com/4672973/somalia-on-the-verge-of-famine-as-u-n-pleads-for-help/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4672973/somalia-on-the-verge-of-famine-as-u-n-pleads-for-help/","name":"Somalia on the Verge of Famine As U.N. Pleads for Help"}}]}] ```