For three years Zeynab Ibrahim saw her small town slowly fade away. Rainfall failed to arrive, water stores ran dry and fields turned to dust. Hunger and illness spread through the community, claiming many residents including four of her ten children.

"We tried every possible way to stay alive by selling dried grass and scooping water from the hard ground. In the end nothing remained so we had to leave to protect our children," she explains from outside her shelter in an internally displaced persons camp in Mogadishu's Kahda district.

"Hunger is the reason we came here," says the 38-year-old single mother who caught a ride with a truck driver carrying other families from drought-stricken areas near Burhakaba in central Somalia.

They became part of more than a million displaced residents now living in poor conditions across informal settlements in the capital.

"Our income came from crops we grew such as maize, beans, sesame and vegetables. Yet the soil cracked without any rain," Ibrahim notes, repeating a familiar account from Somalis nationwide who face repeated cycles of drought, flooding and violence that drive them from their land.

Adan Roble, 77, has endured all three threats. Prolonged dry spells ruined his harvests and left his fields without water.

Last month heavy rains on the dry ground caused floods that destroyed his village near Janale town in the Lower Shabelle region. While waters swept away homes, military drones flew overhead during clashes between government troops and al-Shabaab.

"Picture losing all you own and struggling without food or clean water while conflict rages nearby and drones fly constantly overhead," Roble says.

"We felt fear every day and no assistance arrived so we had to escape."

This marks another move for Roble. Two years earlier fighting forced him briefly into an IDP camp in Afgoye town.

"Raising children here is difficult and I doubt we will return to our village soon," he said. "All we hold now is hope that conditions will improve."

More than 6.5 million Somalis stand on the edge of severe hunger, nearly one third of the population. Displaced people suffer most, crowded into sites with scarce water, sanitation, health and hygiene services.

Ibrahim and her six remaining children share a small shelter built from sticks and covered with worn cloth and plastic that gives little shelter from weather.

The crisis grows worse due to major cuts in international humanitarian funding and rising costs of fuel, food and transport linked to global tensions.

Children suffer most with nearly 1.9 million under age five facing acute malnutrition according to the latest food security report. Almost 500 nutrition clinics have shut from lack of funds, leaving young children like Ibrahim's two-year-old without support.

Malnourished children with frail bodies too weak to cry fill the remaining stabilisation centres that operate under heavy strain, forcing staff to choose who receives care first.

In the past three months over 700 children under five entered Kismayo general hospital's special unit and ten died, reports the International Committee of the Red Cross.

During a recent trip to Somalia the UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher noted the combined impact of the climate crisis and voiced concern over reduced aid capacity from funding shortfalls.

From a camp in Baidoa he described the harsh conditions facing displaced families. "Beyond conflict and displacement come flash floods and worsening drought," Fletcher said. "This should anger us about the lack of humanity shown now amid reckless geopolitics, war, conflict, indifference and cruelty.

"It frustrates me because we run out of ways to convey this message about the reality for so many people in need globally. We cannot understand why people refuse to listen or hear the voices of the mothers and children I meet here," he added.

The deepening humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa occurs amid high political tension that analysts say will further hinder help for displaced Somalis.

The federal parliament's term ended on 14 April and the president's term expired on 15 May. Controversial extensions prolonged their mandates yet opposition figures including former president Sharif Sheikh Ahmed accused the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of unlawful extensions and land seizures.

They urged a public rally against the government this week but police broke up the gathering with reports of one civilian killed and several injured.

"Those who marched today were unarmed civilians voicing real grievances," said former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire on X. "No opposition fighters joined the demonstrators. The only armed forces present were government security units under federal authority," he wrote.

"Using lethal and excessive force against peaceful civilians violates basic rights including life, peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Those responsible must face accountability."

After the protests the government stated that peaceful demonstrations remain legal yet cautioned against "any attempt to turn lawful protest into armed confrontation and disruption of public life".

Tensions persist as opposition leaders pledged to continue rallies while analysts warn that renewed instability would worsen the plight of millions already enduring the worst drought in decades.

"The political situation in Somalia has reached a critical point as the four-year mandate of the current federal government leadership ends without agreement on the next federal electoral process," says Mahad Wasuge, director of the Mogadishu thinktank Somali Public Agenda.

"Key national political actors are not involved in the direct elections the federal government has pursued in recent years. We do not know how long the demonstrations and deadlock will last.

"As this remains an urgent political issue the humanitarian situation and efforts to tackle emergencies appear secondary. I see no renewed focus on humanitarian needs from leadership without dialogue and agreement on the national electoral process."

In the Kahda camp Zeynab Ibrahim says she has received no help from the government or aid groups since arriving two months ago. She depends on neighbours who also struggle. Each morning she takes her children to Mogadishu's Bakara market to beg.

"We feel fortunate to receive one meal daily," she says. "I lack the health to work and have no skills beyond farming. I simply walk the market asking people to help feed my children.

"We need support from everyone including the government, aid agencies, the Somali people and anyone able to assist because we urgently require help," she says.

For Roble, besides the daily fight for food, shelter and water, he worries deeply about his children. He noted that securing basic services has grown so hard that education no longer enters discussions.

"No one mentions school here," he says. "I fear my children will lack a future.

"I am old, weak and can do little to support my children. Their mother leaves to wash clothes for city residents. Sometimes when she finds no work she begs to avoid returning home with nothing," he says.