Djibouti — humanitarian situation

Djibouti faces acute food insecurity driven by persistent drought conditions, with July 2026 IPC analysis projecting over 256,000 people—more than a quarter of the national population—to experience Crisis or worse levels of food insecurity (IPC 3+) between July and December 2026, including 30,000 people in Emergency (IPC 4) WFP. Rainfall deficits have persisted from May through July 2026 across the northern sector of Eastern Africa, including Djibouti, with environmental monitoring products showing widespread soil moisture deficits and vegetation stress IGAD. These dry conditions are occurring against the backdrop of an intensifying El Niño episode forecast to strengthen over the coming months, potentially reaching 'strong' or 'very strong' categorization by late 2026, with a 95 percent probability FAO, FSNWG, IGAD. The western parts of the region, where El Niño typically brings below-average rainfall during the June-September season, have already experienced very poor rains, affecting most of Eritrea and Djibouti among other areas. Beyond the drought crisis, Djibouti experienced localized but severe storm impacts in late July 2026, when the locality of Mouloud in Dhikil region was struck by a severe windstorm accompanied by heavy rainfall on 27 July, following an earlier storm on 24 July IFRC. Preliminary reports indicate that more than 4,160 people across 693 households were affected, with approximately 290 households (1,740 people) directly impacted. Djibouti continues to serve as a critical transit point along the Eastern migration route, one of the busiest and riskiest migration corridors globally, with hundreds of thousands of migrants traveling irregularly through Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, and Yemen, often relying on smugglers IOM. The humanitarian response faces significant transitions, as WFP's Humanitarian Logistics Base HLB is being transferred to the Government of Djibouti, with decommissioning activities actively underway. Following consultations, humanitarian partners confirmed they were not in a position to sustain the facility independently WFP. The broader regional context shows elevated vulnerabilities, with 48.5 million people needing humanitarian assistance across Eastern Africa, more than 40 million facing acute food insecurity, and severe flooding risks expected to increase from October as El Niño intensifies OCHA.