New York Times: This Is What Hunger Looks Like — Again
Nuruddin Farah, author

“…The entwining of wars and famine has multiplied the magnitude of deaths among Somalia’s farmers and herders. … Again and again … I heard the refrain that the famine had been at work for months before it was being talked about, that the international response had been slow, and that disease and child malnutrition and early deaths intensified as the famine spread across southern Somalia, more particularly in the territories controlled by Al Shabaab. Moreover, the dysfunction of the Somali state, its inability to improve the economy and meet its people’s needs, the long war, and the corruption of the political class had forced the Somalis to place greater trust in the international community. There was a clear sense that the current famine was more lethal than the one in 2011. … The United Nations Security Council was told by top officials in March that $2.1 billion was needed to reach 12 million people in several African countries and Yemen with lifesaving aid, but the member states and donors had delivered a mere six percent of that amount…” (8/12).