Key messages

• The latest food security projections in Somalia (October-December) are a concern:
  o 2.1 million people in IPC Phases 3-4 (twice the pre-crisis average)
  o 4.2 million people in IPC Phase 2 (highest IPC 2 prevalence recorded in Somalia)
• Six out of seven rainy seasons have been poor in Somalia since 2016, including late and erratic rains during the 2019 Gu season (April-June) which produced the lowest Gu cereal harvest since 1995 in southern Somalia.
• Pastoralists struggle to recover from severe livestock losses and debt incurred from the drought, although the late Gu 2019 rains helped to replenish pasture and water sources.
• The ongoing Deyr rainy season (October-December) is forecast to be average to above-average in most of Somalia and benefit rural livelihoods, though presenting flood risks especially along the Juba and Shabelle rivers and creating favorable breeding grounds for Desert Locust.
• FAO is currently delivering assistance at a very large scale to rural communities, including its largest cash+ agriculture campaign for Deyr production (40 000+ households in southern Somalia), an ongoing livestock treatment campaign (14.7 million animals), to be followed by a contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) vaccination campaign (14.5 million goats), among other activities.
• FAO urgently seeks funding to address needs in early 2020, including cash and inputs for the main Gu 2020 cropping season.