Somalia’s malnourished children hit hard by Iran war disruptions
Drought has pushed 6.5 million people, or one in three Somalis, into acute hunger.
Black News 
In the Somali city of Baidoa, 11-month-old Ruweido is being treated for malnutrition with nutrient-rich peanut paste, but the global impact of the Iran war means supplies are running low.
Ruweido has been on a life-saving daily regimen of the ready-to-use therapeutic food, known as RUTF, since March.
Her mother, Muumino Adan Aamin, says her daughter was “skin and bones” when she brought her to the clinic.
However, the farmer says she’s also been turned away from the clinic twice because they’d run out of supplies of RUTF.
Due to global shipping delays, aid agencies are now scrambling to access life-saving supplies.
The International Rescue Committee’s Shukri Abdulkadir said they had to cancel an order for peanut paste that would have fed over 1000 children after it got stuck at a port in India.
“And the shipment was stuck at the port mainly because of disruptions to the supply chain.”
The IRC says it has recently secured stock from a supplier in neighbouring Kenya, hoping to avoid further delays, but it’s a race against time.
Drought has pushed 6.5 million people, or one in three Somalis, into acute hunger.
Nearly half a million children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition.
Rahma Abdikarim has brought her malnourished grandchild to a clinic on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu, but she fears the worst.
If supplies of RUTF and other treatments are cut off, she says her grandson will be on the brink of death.
