Mogadishu, (insidesomalia.org) - Soaring food prices and a worsening drought are causing a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Somalia, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

About 2.6 million Somalis now need assistance - more than a third of the country's population, representing a rise of 40 per cent since January. An additional 600,000 people in urban areas either do not have enough food to sustain their households, or have been forced to sell assets to buy food, leaving them vulnerable to further deterioration.

Adding to the problems, cereal prices, both for commercial imports of rice, and for locally produced maize and sorghum, have increased by up to 375 per cent in the last year and are now at record levels.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has signed an agreement with the Danish Refugee Council to continue providing cooked meals to 50,000 people a day in 10 districts in Mogadishu.

In the last week of April, WFP supplied food aid to nearly 400,000 people in Puntland, Somaliland and south-central Somalia.

CARE International also distributed food to nearly 90,000 people in Galgaduud and South Mudug.

Source: Shabelle Media Network