MOGADISHU, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Prices of fuel, food, and water across Somalia surged sharply in March due to the conflict in the Middle East, compounding a humanitarian emergency in an already fragile country, a global charity said on Tuesday.
Save the Children, an international aid organization, said the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East is also driving up transport costs in Somalia.
Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, country director of Save the Children in Somalia, said the country cannot absorb further shocks without catastrophic consequences for children.
"When one in three people cannot access enough food to survive, it is already a crisis," Mohamed said in a statement.
"The Middle East conflict is now making everything harder. Food that was barely affordable is now out of reach, fuel costs are affecting every aspect of the response, and the therapeutic food that keeps severely malnourished children alive is stuck in disrupted supply chains," he added.
According to the Somali government, fuel prices in Mogadishu surged by 150 percent in March, from 0.60 to 1.50 U.S. dollars per liter, while many imported food items doubled in retail price within two weeks.
Somalia's electricity supply, which relies heavily on diesel generators, has also seen sharp increases in costs, putting pressure on households as well as schools and hospitals.
Sorghum and maize prices, staple grains in most households, rose by 25 percent and 33 percent, respectively, while the World Food Program reported that essential commodity prices across Somalia have increased by at least 20 percent.
Somalia is heavily dependent on food imports, with imports and food aid accounting for over 70 percent of the food consumed, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
According to the charity, rising shipping costs are also directly reducing the volume of food aid that can be purchased and delivered to children and families in Somalia, amid severe disruptions to supply pipelines for critical nutritional supplies.
The charity said that the soaring prices are intensifying one of the most severe hunger crises Somalia has faced in recent years, following three failed rainy seasons that have further reduced local agricultural production. ■
