THE United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs confirmed that the number of drought-related displacements in Somalia has increased to over 1.17 million.

The UN said on Tuesday that 68,393 people had been displaced by drought in September — a 3 per cent increase compared with the previous month.

Agencies warn that one-fifth of people in Africa went hungry last year.

There was a 26 per cent increase in new arrivals in the Bay region, followed by 14 per cent in Gedo, and 11 per cent in both Banadir and Bakool.

“The significant flow of arrivals in Bay is a continuation of a displacement trend that was first observed in July, when the Bay region received 40 per cent of new arrivals, compared to only 2 per cent in June,” the OCHA said in its monitoring report.

The increase of displacements from and within the Bay region is occurring in the backdrop of a projected famine in Baidoa and Burhakaba between October and December 2022, unless humanitarian assistance is rapidly scaled up.

Somalia is going through a two-year historic dry spell that has not been seen in more than 40 years. This coupled with the expected fifth failed rainy season is bound to displace many more families amid looming famine in some parts of the country.

About 7.8 million Somalis have been affected by the worst drought in four decades, with more than one million displaced, including nearly 99,000 displaced by drought in August.

The last famine in Somalia was declared just over 10 years ago in 2011 and led to the deaths of an estimated 250,000 people.

But agencies are also warning that decades of work to reduce hunger across the whole continent of Africa are also being reversed.

The UN food and agricultural organisation (FAO) warned on Tuesday that 278 million people in Africa went hungry during 2021, an increase of 50 million people since 2019, and predicted to rise to 310 million by 2030.

FAO assistant director general Abebe Haile-Gabriel said the increase was due to “multiple and overlapping shocks and protracted crises in Africa” including the climate crisis, the lingering effects of the Covid pandemic, regional conflicts and the global surge in fuel prices.

“This is not sustainable,” Mr Haile-Gabriel said. “Unless we change course and learn how to do things differently and better, the situation will not go away or get any better.”