Over the past 25 years, Somalia has experienced a cycle of protracted droughts, culminating in the most recent one in 2016 and 2017, when rains failed for three seasons in a row.
Tragically, drought images from the country are so familiar that they rarely make the headlines.
But the situation in Somalia has grown desperate.
To identify the causes of the drought, assess its impact and damage, and develop a recovery strategy, the Federal Government of Somalia requested a Drought Impact and Needs Assessment as well as a Resilience and Recovery Framework to map out the way forward.
In response to that call, over 180 experts from the Government of Somalia and international partners collected, validated and analyzed data and developed recovery strategies across 18 sectors and cross-cutting areas.
Launched this month, the Drought Impact and Needs Assessment estimates drought-related damages to be $1.02 billion and losses to be $2.23 billion, bringing the total effects of the drought to $3.25 billion.
Livestock – which account for 17 per cent of the country’s economic output – have also taken a hit.
The size of livestock herds has declined by up to 60 per cent.
Considering the lasting impact of the drought and the continuing food insecurity, humanitarian needs are likely to exceed $1.4 billion for the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan.
UN Environment has worked with implementing partners to help them maximize the impact of the data collected for the Drought Impact and Needs Assessment.