ROME: The number of people in Somalia experiencing crisis-levels of food insecurity has nearly doubled in the past year to 6.5 million people, UN-backed experts warned Tuesday.

The Horn of Africa country has been plagued by conflict and suffered two consecutive failed rainy seasons, as well as a drop in the amount of food aid available amid international funding cuts.

The population classified as being in a "crisis or worse" situation "has nearly doubled between February–March 2026 to a staggering 6.5 million people since early 2025", according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a UN-backed group that monitors hunger and malnutrition.

That includes more than two million people now in Phase 4, the "emergency" category, one step away from the "catastrophic" level, equal to famine, an IPC report said.

An estimated 1.84 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition in 2026, including 483,000 severe cases that require urgent treatment, the IPC said.

"This alarming deterioration is driven by worsening drought, rising food  prices, and insecurity across central, southern, and parts of northern Somalia," the report added.

"The situation is compounded by declining humanitarian assistance."

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warned Friday it would have to stop humanitarian assistance in Somalia by April if it did not receive new funding.

The Rome-based agency said it had already been forced to reduce the number of people receiving emergency food assistance from 2.2 million in early 2025 to just over 600,000 today.

In January, the United States suspended aid to Somalia following the destruction of a US-funded WFP warehouse in the capital 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.

Rainfall from April to June is likely to be near normal in most areas and above-normal in some, but "this will likely lead to only a modest improvement in overall food security".

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Crisis-level hunger doubles in Somalia: UN-backed experts