The Somalia famine of 1991 to 1993 (Caga Barar): causes, deaths and relief

In short

The famine of 1991 to 1993 hit the farming areas of southern Somalia in the first years of the civil war. In Somali it is remembered as Caga Barar, "swollen feet" (Somali Wikipedia, 1992 abaartii Soomaaliya (Caga Barar)).

A 1994 study by the Refugee Policy Group estimated 212,000 to 248,000 excess deaths. In Bay region 12 to 25% of the people who lived there before the famine died, and in Lower Juba, Lower Shabelle and Bakool 6 to 16% (cited in Checchi and Robinson, FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET, 2013, p. 54). In late 1992 the UN said "perhaps 300,000 people died since November 1991" (UN, UNOSOM I background).

Causes

• War in the farm belt. The 2013 FSNAU study describes the famine as "precipitated by armed conflict", with hyper-inflation, "nearly complete crop failure", livestock losses of 50 to 70% and ports closed to food imports (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 17).
• Mogadishu. Full-scale fighting in the capital began on 17 November 1991. Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights estimated 14,000 killed and 27,000 wounded in Mogadishu by 29 February 1992 (Africa Watch and PHR, No Mercy in Mogadishu, 26 March 1992).
• The port shut. The same report said "the strategically located deep water port of Mogadishu has not been in use since before the latest outbreak of fighting in November" (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
• Farmers, not herders. The report found that conditions among herders were "far superior". Child malnutrition among them was less than half that of farmers, for example 27% in Hiiraan "in July", in the months before the report (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
• Famine foods. Many people lived on "boiled green mangoes, sugarcane, and wild vegetables" (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).

The report described the famine as "radically different in origin and impact" from earlier droughts, which had mostly struck herders in the centre and north (Africa Watch and PHR 1992). The war years are told in rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 1999.

Baidoa and the camps

US Centers for Disease Control researchers surveyed Baidoa and Afgooye in November and December 1992 (Moore and others, The Lancet 341: 935–938, 1993).

• In the displaced people's camps of Baidoa, the death rate was 16.8 per 10,000 people a day over the 232 days before the survey.
• An estimated 74% of children under five living in those camps died in that period.
• In Afgooye, the death rate was 4.7 per 10,000 a day among displaced and resident people together.
• Measles and diarrhoea were the main causes of death in both towns.

Relief

• The Red Cross. In early 1992 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was spending 20% of its worldwide budget on Somalia. It flew in medical supplies and food for hospital staff six times a week (Africa Watch and PHR 1992).
• The UN. In 1992 the UN said almost 4.5 million people, over half the population, were "threatened by severe malnutrition", and at least 1.5 million lives were "at immediate risk". Almost one million Somalis had fled abroad (UN, UNOSOM I background).
• 24 April 1992. UN Security Council resolution 751 set up the UN Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM I) (UN background).
• August 1992. After a UN team visited from 6 to 15 August, the UN Secretary-General called for the airlifts run by WFP, UNICEF and the ICRC to be "enhanced substantially", with priority for central and southern Somalia (UN background).
• Late 1992. The UN cited estimates that "as many as 3,000 persons a day were dying of starvation in Somalia, while warehouses remained stocked". It reported that aid was being extorted and aid workers' lives put in danger (UN background).
• 3 December 1992. Resolution 794 authorised "all necessary means" to make relief work secure. The US-led force that followed is on the UN and US intervention, 1992 to 1995 (UN background).

How it ended

The 2013 FSNAU study treats 1992–93 as the last famine in Somalia before 2011 (Checchi and Robinson 2013, pp. 5, 17). When the UN declared famine again on 20 July 2011, it called it "the first time since 1991-92" (UN News, 20 July 2011).

Compared with 2011

The death toll of 1991–93 was similar in size to that of the 2010 to 2012 famine, but a larger share of people died. The 1994 estimate "relied mainly on extrapolation of limited existing data" (Checchi and Robinson 2013, p. 54). The BBC gave 220,000 deaths for 1992 (BBC News, 2 May 2013). The wider story of droughts is on rain, drought and floods in Somalia.

Sources

• Africa Watch and Physicians for Human Rights (1992). Somalia: No Mercy in Mogadishu. The human cost of the conflict and the struggle for relief, 26 March 1992.
• Moore, P. S., Marfin, A. A., Quenemoen, L. E. and others (1993). Mortality rates in displaced and resident populations of central Somalia during 1992 famine. The Lancet 341(8850): 935–938.
• Hansch, S. and others (1994). Lives Lost, Lives Saved: Excess Mortality and the Impact of Health Interventions in the Somalia Emergency. Refugee Policy Group, Washington DC. Figures as cited by Checchi and Robinson (2013).
• Checchi, F. and Robinson, W. C. (2013). Mortality among populations of southern and central Somalia affected by severe food insecurity and famine during 2010–2012. FAO/FSNAU and FEWS NET.
• United Nations. Somalia, UNOSOM I: background.
• UN News (2011). UN declares famine in two regions of southern Somalia, 20 July 2011.
• BBC News (2013). Somalia famine 'killed 260,000 people', 2 May 2013.
• Somali Wikipedia. 1992 abaartii Soomaaliya (Caga Barar).