Red Cross to feed one million in war against Somalia hunger

The Red Cross is undertaking a massive food distribution project across Somalia, in an effort to tackle the worsening hunger crisis in the war-torn nation. "We want to feed one million people by the end of the year," says Yves Van Loo, an aid expert with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Somalia.
"We will start with the most remote areas and work our way back to (the capital) Mogadishu," Van Loo told dpa. Having worked in Somalia for more than 30 years, the ICRC found itself in a unique situation to offer help to thousands of hungry people. It is one of the few organisations operating across the entire country - a claim not even the government can make.
Somalia was already in a disastrous situation in the beginning of 2011, with two million people in need of humanitarian aid, largely owing to 20 years of civil war. With the ongoing drought and famine, that number has since doubled, the United Nations says, an estimated 750,000 people are particularly vulnerable and facing a life or death situation.
The situation in Somalia is not expected to get better soon, but rather "famine is likely to spread," according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). At least 450,000 children in the country are malnourished, says OCHA. There are continued outbreaks of measles, cholera, pneumonia and malaria - all diseases that prey on the weakened population. The problem is worsened by the crumbling medical services.
Like all else in a country that has been at war with itself for more than a generation, hospitals are falling apart and many of the best minds, including doctors, have migrated abroad. "There are too few medical staff in the country," says the ICRC's Van Loo. "The staff is really working around the clock. Few of them have normal social or family lives."
The Islamist militia al-Shabaab has banned many charities in the southern areas it controls, alleging that they have political or religious agendas, resulting in scarce supplies of urgently needed food and medical aid. The ICRC, for its first distribution on the road to feeding 1 million people, brought supplies to the Gedo region in the deep south.
Beans, oil and rice were given to provide 72,000 people with their basic needs for one month. There are plans for more trucks to return over the next three months. But plans can easily go wrong in Somalia, which is largely seen as a failed state that has not had a functional central government in two decades.
"It's a long preparation," remarks Van Loo about the food distribution project. The ICRC must first get clearance from all sides in the conflict, which in Somalia could involve al-Shabaab and warlords who are keen to retain their turf. "First, we have a dialogue with everybody. When we get their confidence, that we do not have a hidden agenda, then we can talk about operations," says Van Loo. Renewed outbreaks of fighting can undo even the best-laid plans.
"We won't make a distribution in a place with shelling. We won't ask civilians to endanger themselves to get food," says the ICRC expert. In addition to food supplies, the ICRC will also be giving farmers seeds and fertiliser for the next planting season, with weather forecasters predicting that the crushing drought will end.
"If the harvest goes well it will help Somalis recover from the devastating effects of the drought," says Ottavio Sardu, an ICRC agronomist. "Somali farmers know how to produce their own food - all we have to do is provide them with the means," says Sardu.
Without the aid, poor Somali farmers will produce only 50 per cent of possible yields, even with the best rains, according to experts, as they have no money to invest in supplies. UN officials have repeatedly warned that without being able to support themselves, Somalis will remain on the brink of disaster.