In Brief: High malnutrition levels in Somalia
NAIROBI, 22 May 2009 (IRIN) - Nutrition assessments have revealed high global acute malnutrition (GAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) levels averaging 25.5 and 8.1 percent, respectively, in children under five in parts of the south-central Somalia region of Hiran.
The rates are attributable to poor rainfall performance in the past two years, which has led to low crop and livestock production, according to a nutrition update by the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
A hike in food commodity prices coupled with poor childcare and sanitation practices had further contributed to morbidity, it stated.
The Hiran region has also witnessed armed confrontation and intermittent localised civil conflicts, which have hindered humanitarian access and severely affected people's livelihoods.
Poor nutrition levels have also been recorded in Beletwyne and among internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Berbera, Burao and Hargeisa areas of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where limited job opportunities are compelling IDPs to depend on cash gifts.
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