Other NGOs, including Action Against Hunger, Medair and Save the Children, said their programmes were also stretched thin – meaning a critical opportunity to avert a famine is being missed.

While largely driven by a drought across the Horn of Africa, Somalia’s crisis has been exacerbated by global disruption caused by the Covid pandemic and desert locusts swarms, which “ravaged whatever harvest was there”, Mr Ahmed said. 

Ongoing elections and a challenging security situation haven’t helped. The presence of Al Shabab – an Islamist insurgent group – means humanitarian organisations are unable to access large areas of the country. A spate of recent attacks, including in the capital city, Mogadishu, has also complicated the response. 

There are also concerns that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will further deepen the crisis, driving up prices of fuel and food. Locals say costs have already jumped by 50 per cent in Mogadishu.

“A week ago, the 20-litre jerrycan of cooking oil was $25, today it’s about $50,” Mohamed Osman, a trader, told Agence France-Presse last week. “A litre of gasoline was $0.64 and today it runs about $1.80 – it’s crazy.”

This price hike could be the “last straw”, said Jean-Michel Grand, director of Action Against Hunger UK.