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Djibouti

Serious food insecurity situation due

to unprecedented multi-season drought

According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase
Classification (IPC), about 285 000 people are estimated to
face severe acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 [Crisis] and
IPC Phase 4 [Emergency]) in the July December 2023 peri-
od. This figure, which includes about 185 000 people in IPC
Phase 3 (Crisis) and 100 000 in IPC Phase 4 (Emergency),
amounts to about one quarter of the country’s population
and it is almost 50 percent higher on a yearly basis.
The high prevalence and severity of acute food insecu-
rity and the deterioration of the food security situation are
mainly due to the lingering impact of a prolonged and se-
vere drought, which affected livelihoods between late 2020
and early 2023, and resulted in a reduction of livestock
numbers by about 50 percent due to widespread deaths,
severely constraining incomes and availability of livestock
products for pastoralist households.
The country hosts about 31 500 refugees and asylum
seekers from Somalia, Ethiopia, Yemen and Eritrea. Most of
them lack adequate access to livelihood opportunities and
rely entirely on humanitarian assistance.

Poor start of July September rainy season and unfavour-
able weather forecasts raising concerns for drought recov-
ery

In inland pastoral areas of Dikhil, Obock and Tadjourah
regions, the 2023 March May “diraac/sougum” rains were
characterized by abundant rainfall amounts, up to 90 per-
cent above average and by a late cessation in mid June. The
good performance of the rainy season benefited rangeland
resources and livestock body conditions, marking the end Prices of wheat flour volatile and at high levels
of the prolonged drought.
Wheat flour is the most consumed cereal in the country,
Subsequently, the start of the July September “karan/kar-
ma” rainy season was very poor, with well below average mainly in urban areas and, in 2021, more than half of the
rainfall amounts received over most inland pastoral areas in country’s requirements were sourced from Ukraine. Since
July (Precipitation anomaly map). The moisture deficits had the start of the conflict in Ukraine in early 2022, prices have
a negative impact on vegetation conditions, which are cur- increased due to supply bottlenecks caused by the war and
rently poor over most areas (Vegetation health index map). exhibited a marked volatility. In May 2023, the national av-
erage price of wheat flour was 5 percent below the high
According to the latest weather forecast by the Greater
Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF), the re- levels of one year earlier, but it was 15 percent higher than
mainder of the “karan/karma” rainy season is expected to two years earlier. By contrast, the national average price of
be characterized by below average rainfall amounts, with a rice, the second most important cereal in the country’s diet
likely, further negative impact on rangeland resources, po- and mainly sourced from India, in May 2023 was at the same
tentially compromising herds’ recovery from the drought. levels of one year earlier.
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