Somali Food Security Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Somali Food Security Crisis - Essay Example Based on the UNHCR reports almost a million of its citizens are internally displaced. The food price crisis in the country is on the rise due to a wide range of macroeconomic shocks which are principally driven by the increase in civil insecurity, and conflict which has been the worst the state has seen ever since its collapse in the early 1990s. The most overwhelming macroeconomic surprise is the dramatic devaluation of its currency. Following unrestrained and excessive printing of the shilling currency, notes began to deluge the markets in 2007, quickly increasing the money supply and sending the worth of the Somali currency into freefall. The Somali Shilling deflated by 145% in opposition to the US dollar in 2007 and by 150% in the following year. Due to this, imports have become more expensive, and the amplified costs have resulted in high prices borne by consumers. Apart from the soaring food prices, little rainfall is also to be blamed for the increase in the food crisis. Somal ia is located at the Horn of Africa where little or no rainfall is experienced in the country. Majority of the country’s land is arid or semi-arid within limited areas being fertile for farming. Lack of rainfall coupled with minimal farming activities has resulted in the lack of food that can sustain the population; hence, the crisis. Military conflicts have resulted in mass displacement, in addition to blockades of a number of big towns. This has restrained the availability of both locally produced staples and imported.