Millions of Somalis face starvation due to the intensifying drought, UN officials said on Tuesday.

“A perfect combination of bad rain, increasing food costs, and severe financial gaps leaves over 40% of Somalis on the verge,” the agencies stated.

Drought has hit many sections of Somalia, as well as Ethiopia and Kenya, but UN agencies warn of a severe financing gap to manage the issue and prevent a repetition of the 2011 famine.

“We are practically going to start stealing food from the hungry to feed the needy,” said UN World Food Programme Somalia official El-Khidir Daloum.

According to a new assessment by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, six million Somalis, or 40% of the population, now face acute food insecurity, nearly doubling since January.

The WFP, FAO, OCHA, and UNICEF declared “pockets of famine conditions” were expected in six districts of Somalia.

Food and milk were short due to increased commodity costs and livestock concerns, they added, putting children under five at risk.

Approximately 1.4 million youngsters would be acutely malnourished by the end of the year, the statement stated.

The UN warned of a “critical shortfall” in donor finance, with a 2022 plan seeking $1.5 billion barely obtaining 4.4 percent of the objective.

During the 2011 famine, 260,000 people died of starvation or associated diseases, half of them children under six.

Climate change has been the major driver of relocation in Somalia, a war-torn nation that ranks among the world’s most vulnerable.