Somalia’s Child Malnutrition Nears Five-Year Highs

Frail. Listless. Some unable to walk. One after another, mothers file into nutrition clinics cradling babies whose small bodies are losing the battle to survive. 

At the Somali Red Crescent Society’s (SRCS) Howlwadaag clinic in Baidoa, the waiting bay is a quiet kind of catastrophe. 

Nurta Ibrahim, 25, arrived with her two-year-old daughter, Salaada Mohamed, feeble in her arms. For two months, she debated with the idea of making the trip. With no money, she would have to cover the 25 kilometres journey on foot. She would also have to leave her four other young children behind, with no one but a neighbour to look after them. All the while, her baby’s condition grew worse. In the end, she was forced to make the trip, walking from her humble Moosha village to Baidoa town.

This arduous road in search of healthcare is the bane of many Somali mothers. Health facilities are few and far between, and insecurity and adverse weather conditions make access to the existing ones even harder to reach. 

Mothers like Nurta, who are struggling to feed their young families, find themselves at a crossroads: watch your child waste away or leave the rest of your family behind unattended. For mothers in Moosha, the nearest facility sits behind a gauntlet of roadblocks, checkpoints and inflated transport costs. 

Access to healthcare in rural Somalia is a luxury. 

If there is a drought and your child is sick, there is very little you can do. I thought about taking her to the nearest health facility, but there is none close to our village,” explained Nurta.