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1992 famine in Somalia
The 1992 famine in Somalia resulted from a severe drought and devastation caused by warring factions in southern Somalia, primarily the Somali National Front, in the fertile inter-riverine breadbasket between the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. The resulting famine primarily affected residents living in the riverine area, predominantly in Bay Region, and those internally displaced by the civil war.
During the second half of 1992, the famine began to recede, partly due to the lull in fighting, which allowed the first crop harvest in the Lower Shebelle region, and also due to large-scale international food deliveries. Local Somali-led initiatives formed to address starvation were eventually overwhelmed, particularly in the Bay region. The crisis led to the creation of UNOSOM I in April 1992. The Red Cross took lead of the response, spending more than half of its 1992 budget on the crisis and distributing 75% of all relief in Somalia. From August to December 1992, the United States operated an aid airlift to the Red Cross that saved approximately 40,000 lives.
In December 1992, UNITAF (Operation Restore Hope) was established to succeed UNOSOM I, deploying over 30,000 US military-led troops to Somalia with the initial objective of providing security for relief groups. This had the effect of speeding the conclusion of the crisis by about a month. During early 1993, the famine was largely over. In March of 1993, UNITAF transitioned to UNOSOM II. Of the approximately 100,000 lives saved as a result of various form of international assistance, 10,000–25,000 were during the UNITAF and UNOSOM II operations.
The crisis resulted in an estimated 200,000–300,000 deaths.
Before the full outbreak of the Somali Civil War, food shortages had started during summer of 1990 in the last year of President Siad Barres rule. At the start of 1991, the formal economy collapsed following several years of decline as the Somali Democratic Republic was toppled by rebel groups. During 1991 and 1992 southern Somalia was struck by an exceptionally harsh drought. Concurrently, traditional coping methods broke down as the civil war spread into the south and law enforcement disintegrated. The largest contributing factor behind the famine was the devastation inflicted on infrastructure and farmland by warfare in the agricultural inter-riverine regions.
After former President Barre was ejected from Mogadishu by United Somali Congress (USC) forces in January 1991, his newly formed faction, the Somali National Front (SNF), withdrew far south of the city into the nations fertile breadbasket. Lacking supplies of their own to sustain themselves, Barres forces ravaged the grain stores of inter-riverine agricultural belt around the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. During this period SNF forces also destroyed pumps and farming equipment, resulting in a near complete halt to agriculture production. The Somali National Front is widely considered to bear primary responsibility for inducing the famine. This dire food supply situation was further exacerbated by the serious instability caused by fighting between the SNF and anti-Barre rebels over fertile regions, the most powerful of which was the Somali Liberation Army (an anti-Barre rebel coalition preceding the Somali National Alliance) led by General Mohamed Farah Aidid.
As agricultural production ceased, food prices skyrocketed across the south in mid-1991. In November later that year, major battles in Mogadishu and Kismayo closed the nations main ports. This led to the near disappearance of food from many markets across southern Somalia. Warnings of famine began around December 1991, but were largely ignored by the United Nations and relief agencies. In March 1992, the Red Cross declared Somalia the worlds "most urgent tragedy" and warned that thousands would begin dying within weeks. At the start of April 1992, General Aidids Somali Liberation Army coalition began its final major offensive to push the Somali National Front out of the southern regions. According to UNOSOM advisor John Drysdale:
The famine was a combination of drought and a seven-month military occupation of the area by three divisions of Siad Barre’s army. The former president had moved his headquarters from the Gedo region to Baidoa on September 15, 1991, to prepare for a military reoccupation of Mogadishu seven months later. Meanwhile, his soldiers plundered grain stores in this agricultural area, destroying pumps and implements in their wake. Farming came to a standstill. Barre’s army of occupation did not leave the area until April 22, 1992. On the road to Wanle Weyn it suffered its initial defeat at Aideed’s hands before retreating rapidly to the Kenya border. Its seven month occupation left villages upon villages of destitute farming communities. It took three months for the impact of growing mass starvation to hit the world’s television screens.
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1992 famine in Somalia
The 1992 famine in Somalia resulted from a severe drought and devastation caused by warring factions in southern Somalia, primarily the Somali National Front, in the fertile inter-riverine breadbasket between the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. The resulting famine primarily affected residents living in the riverine area, predominantly in Bay Region, and those internally displaced by the civil war.
During the second half of 1992, the famine began to recede, partly due to the lull in fighting, which allowed the first crop harvest in the Lower Shebelle region, and also due to large-scale international food deliveries. Local Somali-led initiatives formed to address starvation were eventually overwhelmed, particularly in the Bay region. The crisis led to the creation of UNOSOM I in April 1992. The Red Cross took lead of the response, spending more than half of its 1992 budget on the crisis and distributing 75% of all relief in Somalia. From August to December 1992, the United States operated an aid airlift to the Red Cross that saved approximately 40,000 lives.
In December 1992, UNITAF (Operation Restore Hope) was established to succeed UNOSOM I, deploying over 30,000 US military-led troops to Somalia with the initial objective of providing security for relief groups. This had the effect of speeding the conclusion of the crisis by about a month. During early 1993, the famine was largely over. In March of 1993, UNITAF transitioned to UNOSOM II. Of the approximately 100,000 lives saved as a result of various form of international assistance, 10,000–25,000 were during the UNITAF and UNOSOM II operations.
The crisis resulted in an estimated 200,000–300,000 deaths.
Before the full outbreak of the Somali Civil War, food shortages had started during summer of 1990 in the last year of President Siad Barres rule. At the start of 1991, the formal economy collapsed following several years of decline as the Somali Democratic Republic was toppled by rebel groups. During 1991 and 1992 southern Somalia was struck by an exceptionally harsh drought. Concurrently, traditional coping methods broke down as the civil war spread into the south and law enforcement disintegrated. The largest contributing factor behind the famine was the devastation inflicted on infrastructure and farmland by warfare in the agricultural inter-riverine regions.
After former President Barre was ejected from Mogadishu by United Somali Congress (USC) forces in January 1991, his newly formed faction, the Somali National Front (SNF), withdrew far south of the city into the nations fertile breadbasket. Lacking supplies of their own to sustain themselves, Barres forces ravaged the grain stores of inter-riverine agricultural belt around the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. During this period SNF forces also destroyed pumps and farming equipment, resulting in a near complete halt to agriculture production. The Somali National Front is widely considered to bear primary responsibility for inducing the famine. This dire food supply situation was further exacerbated by the serious instability caused by fighting between the SNF and anti-Barre rebels over fertile regions, the most powerful of which was the Somali Liberation Army (an anti-Barre rebel coalition preceding the Somali National Alliance) led by General Mohamed Farah Aidid.
As agricultural production ceased, food prices skyrocketed across the south in mid-1991. In November later that year, major battles in Mogadishu and Kismayo closed the nations main ports. This led to the near disappearance of food from many markets across southern Somalia. Warnings of famine began around December 1991, but were largely ignored by the United Nations and relief agencies. In March 1992, the Red Cross declared Somalia the worlds "most urgent tragedy" and warned that thousands would begin dying within weeks. At the start of April 1992, General Aidids Somali Liberation Army coalition began its final major offensive to push the Somali National Front out of the southern regions. According to UNOSOM advisor John Drysdale:
The famine was a combination of drought and a seven-month military occupation of the area by three divisions of Siad Barre’s army. The former president had moved his headquarters from the Gedo region to Baidoa on September 15, 1991, to prepare for a military reoccupation of Mogadishu seven months later. Meanwhile, his soldiers plundered grain stores in this agricultural area, destroying pumps and implements in their wake. Farming came to a standstill. Barre’s army of occupation did not leave the area until April 22, 1992. On the road to Wanle Weyn it suffered its initial defeat at Aideed’s hands before retreating rapidly to the Kenya border. Its seven month occupation left villages upon villages of destitute farming communities. It took three months for the impact of growing mass starvation to hit the world’s television screens.