FAO calls for anticipatory action to safeguard lives and livelihoods in Somalia ahead of El Niño
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Figure: Flooding along the Shabelle River in Somalia caused the displacement of around 250,000 people earlier this year. ©FAO
FAO News - 07/07/2023
Mogadishu – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is calling for enhanced early warning and anticipatory action in Somalia ahead of an expected El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event and the start of the upcoming Deyr rainy season in October 2023 that could affect up to 1.2 million people Somalia. The country’s riverine communities are particularly at risk of flooding. They face a potential loss of property and livestock, damage to crops with around 1.5 million hectares of land at high risk of being inundated by flood waters along both the Juba and Shabelle rivers. This threat to local livelihoods comes on the back of a historic drought that has already negatively affected food security and people’s ability to cope with disasters.
El Niño is a climate pattern that occurs every two to seven years and brings with it a range of potential risks and opportunities to rural communities and their livelihoods in Somalia. The Indian Ocean Dipole is another climate pattern, also linked to sea surface temperatures but in the Indian Ocean. Meteorological models from global and regional agencies, such as NOAA/FEWS NET, ECMWF, IRI, UK MET and ICPAC, show a strong confidence in increased rainfall over the eastern parts of the Horn of Africa and other climatic changes during these weather phenomena.
“We have the information needed to take action, and now is the time to work together as a humanitarian community to prevent another climate disaster in Somalia,” said Ezana Kassa, FAO’s Head of Program in Somalia. “We have just three months window to act and prevent the loss of more lives and livelihoods,” he said. The country has already witnessed a historic flooding event in the Shabelle river earlier this year, which displaced around 250,000 people.
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