Today programme
Desperate government officials in drought-stricken areas of Somalia are telling people to survive by eating leaves, as the drought situation worsens, hardy camels die and the announcement of a state of famine draws closer.
This is the season of the Gu in Somalia, the time of the life-giving rainy season that lasts from April to the end of July.
But the rains have not come for the second successive time and in its place has come a severe drought, which is threatening at least four million lives in Somalia alone.
Aid agencies are now talking about an inevitable declaration of a famine in Somalia for the first time since 1992.
Then, at the height of a vicious civil war, more than 200,000 people died but many more could be threatened this time round.
The main reason for the severity of this drought - as compared to the droughts of previous years - is the catastrophic and extensive death of livestock.
Somalis are mainly nomadic herders and more than 65% of people depend on their animals to survive.
The BBC has discovered that in some regions of Somalia, approximately 80% of livestock has been wiped out.
Most of the remaining animals are too emaciated to produce milk or fetch any money at the market.
The rich herders, those with more than 400 head, are becoming poor; the poor herders are becoming utterly destitute and dependent on camps for internally displaced people (IDP).
Sonia Zambakides, the emergency manager of Save the Children for Somalia and Somaliland, told the BBC: "I think I've found the situation very shocking.
"We are talking about communities where between 80% and 85% of their livestock has been destroyed.
"This is a pastoral community; that means everything's gone. It's all about their livestock and animals."
Schools closed
The statistics make frightening reading. Of Somalia's population of nine million population, it is now estimated that 2.85 million people are in crisis - nearly a third of the population.
A further 1.75 million are at risk of crisis. These figures are based on those regions where access for outside non-governmental organisations and agencies is relatively unrestricted.
But this is not the case for areas of central and southern Somalia which are ruled by a hotchpotch of warlords, militias and the al-Shabab, an Islamist insurgency group which has been accused of having links to al-Qaeda.
The situation is so grave that even al-Shabab has appealed for help from the outside world.
This is despite the fact that it has been accused of murdering aid workers and had even banned many agencies from operating.
One senior aid worker, who asked not be named, told the BBC: "You know things are desperate when even al-Shabab is forced to appeal for help. They are a deeply unpalatable lot but we have to work with them if we are to save lives."
It is not known how many who have died so far, but it is clear that an increasing number of people have succumbed.
I was one of the first Western reporters to visit some of the worst-affected areas in northern Somalia to talk to people, internal refugees, government officials, aid workers and nomad farmers.
The worst-affected area in this part of Somalia called Puntland is the Karkar region, home to 200,000 people.
Here, approximately 85% of livestock has already died. Perhaps the most alarming feature of this drought has been the death of many camels which are considered in normal times to be almost drought-resistant.
I met one camel herdsman, Ahmed Mohammed, who told me: "We have come through a severe drought and I have lost more than half of my camels.
"It is a terrible sign when camels start dying because when they start to die, then what chance have sheep, goats and cattle?"
Not much, it seems. Nomad farmers who have lost their animals are now flooding into camps for internally displaced people by the hour.
I spoke to one herdsman whose 350 head flock has been reduced to just 45.
This time last year, Farah Mohammed, who has 15 children and two wives, considered himself to be a wealthy man.
"I now consider myself a poor man," he told me. "I don't know what the future holds but I know it is not good."
His story is becoming an increasingly typical one. He thinks he will be forced to move into a camp within weeks.
The drought is affecting everyone in Somalian society.
The crisis in the pastoral community means tradesmen and lenders have fewer customers and even teachers will not work because no-one can afford to pay them.
Up to 50% of the country's camels have already diedAs a result, 90% of the schools in Karkar have closed.
The death toll is also steadily climbing.
In the Sool Plateau area, 150 have now starved to death and in the area known as Bender-Bayla, another 150 have died. In some coastal areas of Puntland, the crisis has been exacerbated by the notorious pirates.
Many refugees have had terrible experiences in reaching places of safety.
Habiba Mohamed Hassan fled the war-torn capital of Mogadishu last week after militias murdered her husband and she and her children faced starvation.
On her journey, militiamen raped women and stole her clothes. The lorry caught fire and she suffered serious burns.
She said: "This drought is worse than previous droughts because this time we don't have anything, we don't have animals because they have all perished away and we don't have any food or source of income and what we do have is stolen by militia."
The decision to declare a famine is taken by the Food Security Analysis Unit, which works to the United Nations.
Normally, famine is declared when malnutrition rates reach 15%.
According to Save the Children, malnutrition rates at some of its feeding centres have already reached between 25 and 33%.
A famine declaration within the next two weeks looks almost certain.
Extended drought is causing a severe food crisis in the Horn of Africa, which includes Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. Weather conditions over the Pacific means the rains have failed for two seasons and are unlikely to return until September.
Food shortages are affecting up to 12 million people. The UN has not declared a famine but large areas of the region are now classified as in crisis or emergency, with malnutrition affecting up to 35-40% of children under five. 
The humanitarian problem is made worse by ongoing conflicts, which means that until July militant groups had only allowed aid organisations limited access to large parts of southern Somalia and eastern Ethiopia.
Since the beginning of 2011, around 15,000 Somalis each month have fled into refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia looking for food and water. The refugee camp at Dadaab, in Kenya, has been overwhelmed by 370,000 people. 
Farmers unable to meet their basic food costs are abandoning their herds. High cereal and fuel prices had already forced them to sell many animals before the drought and their smaller herds are now unprofitable or dying.
The refugee problem may have been preventable. However, violent conflict in the region has deterred international investment in long-term development programmes, which may have reduced the effects of the drought.
Development aid would focus on reducing deforestation, topsoil erosion and overgrazing and improving water conservation. New roads and infrastructure for markets would help farmers increase their profits. 
The result of climate conditions, conflict and lack of investment is that 6.7 million people in Kenya and Ethiopia are currently existing on food rations, and relief agencies estimate 2.6 million in Somalia will need assistance a new emergency operation. BACK {current} of {total} NEXT The UK has pledged ?38m ($61m) in food aid to drought-hit Ethiopia - enough to feed 1.3 million people for three months.
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