The 2011–12 Famine in Somalia: Introduction to the Special Edition

On July 20, 2011, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit for Somalia (FSNAU) operated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, declared a Famine in several areas of the southern part of the country. There had been warnings of the deteriorating situation for some period of time prior to the declaration, but a variety of factors delayed the response. Then humanitarian actors scrambled to scale up a response. The Somalia famine of 2011–2012 thus touched on many familiar themes, and also raised many new ones. This special issue of Global Food Security analyzes the famine—mostly from the perspective of humanitarian actors themselves: analysts, practitioners, and managers of the response. This article introduces the special issue and notes the main questions that the special issue tries to address.