UN says Somalia Famine Killed Nearly 260,000 During Oct 2010 - April 2012

Famine implies that at least a fifth of households face extreme food shortages, with acute malnutrition in more than 30 % of people, and two deaths per 10,000 people every day, according to the UN definition.

"Famine and severe food insecurity in Somalia claimed the lives of about 258,000 people between October 2010 and April 2012, including 133,000 children under five," said the UN report

An estimated 4.6 % of the total population and 10 % of children under five died in southern and central Somalia

Famine was first declared in July 2011 in Somalia's Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, but later spread to other areas, including Middle Shabelle, Afgoye and inside camps for displaced people in the war-ravaged capital Mogadishu.

Somalia was the country hardest hit by extreme drought in 2011 that affected over 13 million people across the Horn of Africa.

Major African Hunger Crises

• Somalia, 2010-2012: Nearly 260,000 die of hunger caused by drought and conflict
• Niger, 2010: Food shortages affect more than 7 million people after crops fail; 2005 - thousands die following drought and locust invasion
• Sudan, 2008: Localised famine in some areas of southern Sudan due to war and drought
• Ethiopia, 2000: Three consecutive years of drought leave millions at risk, with famine declared in Gode, the Somali region
• Democratic Republic of Congo, 1998-2004: Severe food crisis caused by conflict, millions affected by hunger
• Somalia, 1991-1992: Drought and war contribute to famine across the country; about 250,000 famine-related deaths reported in 1992
• Ethiopia, 1984-1985: Up to one million people die in famine caused by conflict, drought and economic mismanagement
• Nigeria, 1967-1970: One million die in civil war and famine in the breakaway Biafran republic
• Uganda, 1970s: Localised famine in Karamoja leaves thousands dead