Mohammed Affey, the Special Envoy for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has been keen on seeing a better Somalia ever since he was appointed late in December 2013.
Yet images of spindly limbs, deep-set eyes and distended stomachs could return if no one takes heed of warnings by humanitarian agencies.
"As IGAD, we are working hard to ensure we don't see these incidents again," he told ChinAfrica. As Special Envoy, Affey, a former Kenyan ambassador, is tasked with reporting to IGAD on the path to reconstruction of Somalia. That reconstruction though is hampered by incessant famine in the country.
To date, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has issued eight situation reports since January 2014, warning of an impending food crisis across Somalia. And for a country trying to rise from the ashes of a two-decade-old war, the figures are grim. As of July 2014, UNOCHA reported that Somalia had more than 2 million people "in stress" of finding food. More than 850,000 others were in urgent need of humanitarian aid, while 203,000 children under five years old were malnourished. This number, the UN warns, is expected to rise as conditions continue to worsen.
"Funding is urgently needed today so that aid agencies can provide food, livelihood resources, health assistance and nutritional support to people in the worst-affected areas," said Philippe Lazzarini, the United Nations Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Somalia.
Humanitarian agencies working in Somalia have put out a consolidated funding appeal of $933 million. Only 30 percent of this had been received by July 2014, leaving a shortfall of about $700 million required to provide humanitarian assistance until the end of 2014 to 2.9 million people - all struggling to feed themselves inside Somalia.
"Responding after a food crisis costs at least three times more than taking preventive action. If we continue to ignore the warning signs, this crisis will cost donors and governments significantly more than acting now," Enzo Vecchio, Oxfam Somalia Country Director, told ChinAfrica.
The UN indicates that the Somali population in need of urgent assistance reduced from 4 million to 2.9 million from 2012 to the end of 2013. This was largely because of what UNOCHA called "moderate improvements in funding" access and general conditions on the ground.
For Somalia, only long-term solutions will help end the predictable cycle of famine. A July report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) argued that agencies responding to humanitarian disasters can do better in giving durable solutions by adopting business models.
Somalia's Ambassador to Kenya Mohammed Nur agreed, telling ChinAfrica that durable solutions and help from the international community to address food security, infrastructure and youth unemployment are needed.
"There are immediate problems of humanitarian nature and insecurity, but if you look deep, the inherent cause is poverty," he said.
The World Vision is one such example of long-term help. The organization has been leading a scheme called the Somalia Resilience Program (SomReP), which includes a consortium of seven agencies with long experience in Somalia.
But African leaders conceded that funding could be a major challenge to address malnutrition in countries like Somalia. As such, AU Assembly's 23rd Ordinary Session called for the provision "of adequate financial and socio-economic support to Somalia within the framework of the New Deal Compact," besides raising an alarm over the humanitarian situation in the country.
The New Deal Compact refers to a decision reached at an EU conference in Brussels last year in which Somalia was promised $2.4 billion for certain priority projects in the country. The African Development Bank (AfDB) committed $15 million. It should be remembered that only this year, AfDB entered into a $2-billion deal with the People's Bank of China which is to last over a 10-year period and will be used alongside the AfDB's own resources to finance eligible sovereign and non-sovereign guaranteed development projects in Africa.
Somalia is a likely beneficiary.
(Reporting from Kenya)
