Ali Abdi Elmi walks with his herd of camels on the outskirts of the city of Hargeisa, Somalia, on September 18. Top: Ali Abdi Elmi holds a cup filled with camel milk. Photos: AFP

Millions of people in Somalia are at risk of famine, with young children the most vulnerable to the worsening drought, UN agencies said Tuesday, warning that the troubled nation is on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Many parts of Somalia are being ravaged by an extreme months-long drought that has also taken hold in other countries in the region including Ethiopia and Kenya, destroying crops and livestock and driving huge numbers of people from their homes.

"Somalia is facing famine conditions as a perfect storm of poor rain, skyrocketing food prices and huge funding shortfalls leaves almost 40 percent of Somalis on the brink," the World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), humanitarian agency OCHA and the United Nations Children's Fund said in a joint statement. 

"We are literally about to start taking food from the hungry to feed the starving," WFP Somalia country director El-Khidir Daloum said.

Six million Somalis or 40 percent of the population are now facing extreme levels of food insecurity, according to a new report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, almost a twofold increase since the beginning of 2022, the agencies said.

About 1.4 million children face acute malnutrition through the end of 2022, with around one quarter facing severe acute malnutrition, they said.

Children under the age of 5  in the country are the most vulnerable, with access to food and milk scarce because of rising commodity prices and livestock issues.

AFP