MSF Warns of worsening health and nutrition emergency in Somalia amid drought and aid shortfalls

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has warned that Somalia is facing a deepening health and nutrition emergency driven by recurrent drought, soaring water prices, and a sharp decline in humanitarian assistance.

According to MSF, the combined impact of prolonged rainfall failure and reduced donor funding has severely affected internally displaced people and other vulnerable communities, particularly in the Bay, Bakool, and Mudug regions, where the organization operates. MSF medical teams report a dramatic rise in malnutrition rates and the spread of preventable diseases, including measles, whooping cough, and acute watery diarrhea.

In November 2025, the Federal Government of Somalia declared a national drought emergency after the country experienced four consecutive failed rainy seasons. United Nations assessments indicate that up to 4.4 million people could face acute food insecurity by the end of 2025, including 1.85 million children under the age of five who are at risk of severe malnutrition.

MSF noted that more than 3.3 million people have already been displaced from their homes, most of them living in overcrowded displacement camps in areas such as Baidoa and Mudug. The organization warned that humanitarian funding has dropped to its lowest level in a decade, leading to the closure of more than 200 health and nutrition facilities across Somalia since early 2025.

In Baidoa, MSF reported a 48 percent increase in the number of children admitted with severe acute malnutrition in October 2025 compared to the previous month. During the same period, 189 children were treated for suspected measles cases, with 95 percent of them having never been vaccinated. In Mudug region, therapeutic feeding centers recorded a 35 percent increase in admissions for severely malnourished children.

“We are seeing children arriving at our hospitals in extremely critical condition after days-long journeys, without food or water,” said Allara Ali, MSF’s Project Coordinator in Somalia. “The drought has not only dried up water sources, but it has also destroyed the livelihoods that families depend on.”

The drought has also severely limited access to safe drinking water. MSF reported that the price of a 200-liter barrel of water has risen to between $2.50 and $4.00 in Baidoa and parts of Mudug, placing clean water far beyond the reach of many displaced families.

“We cannot afford to buy water. Both food and water are scarce for us,” said Kaltuma Kerow, a 35-year-old mother living in an internally displaced persons camp in Baidoa. “We fear diseases such as cholera.”

In response to the crisis, MSF launched an emergency water distribution operation in Baidoa in December 2025. By mid-January, the organization had delivered more than six million liters of clean water to 17 displacement sites. However, MSF stressed that current efforts remain insufficient to meet the scale of needs.

“This crisis was foreseeable and largely preventable,” said Elshafie Mohamed, MSF’s Representative in Somalia. “Yet the humanitarian response has fallen to its lowest level in ten years.”

MSF has urgently called on international donors and Somali authorities to immediately release additional funding to expand nutrition, vaccination, and water programs. The organization also urged investment in long-term, climate-resilient solutions to help communities withstand future droughts and prevent large-scale loss of life in the coming months.