Drought looms in Somalia after poor, erratic rains

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — The United Nations food agency warns that Somalia’s food crisis could worsen in coming months because of poor rains, shrinking humanitarian assistance and rising cereal prices.

The Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement Monday that severe water shortage is expected in coming months and that an emergency is unfolding among internally displaced people in the capital, Mogadishu, where acute malnutrition has been cited.

The statement said Somalia saw poor, erratic rains between April and June –the main wet season — and that cereal prices in urban areas have been rising since March because of trade disruptions amid violence.

Some 203,000 acutely malnourished children under the age of 5 require urgent treatment and nutrition support through mid-2014.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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