Somalia lies at the northeast tip of Africa and currently
comprises the semiautonomous zones of the Northwest Zone
(NWZ)10 (Somaliland), Northeast Zone (NEZ) (Puntland) and
the war-ravaged South Central Zone (SCZ). Since the fall of the
Siad Barre government in 1991, Somalia has lacked an effective
central government. A high and persistent level of internal
conflict and incursions by foreign governments has contributed
to a series of health and nutrition crises (6,7).
Nutrition survey data have been collected and analyzed by
the Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) of the
United Nations (UN) FAO since 2000, and this has allowed a
detailed monitoring of the anthropometric status of the child
population (8). Information on micronutrient nutrition has been
much scarcer due to the difficulties of sample collection and
analysis in remote and insecure areas. A Multiple Indicator