ROME -The FAO is laying off 111 of its staff in Somalia and Kenya, raising concern about the agency's capacity to deal with a future famine, FAO sources say.

 The hunger-fighting UN agency laid off hundreds of staff in its headquarters last year to meet budget cut targets imposed on FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva while at the same time hiring a constellation of highly-paid consultants as advisors to the Brazilian agronomist.

 Now the axe is being swung evidently on staffers in the field with the 111 Somali  and Kenyan staff being made redundant by the end of this month representing a quarter of some 411 staff working for the FA0 in the country in total, the sources told the Italian Insider.

 African observers have questioned whether the lay-offs could jeopardise the FAO's ability to respond effectively to a major famine in the Horn of Africa.

 "Imagine when the next hunger crisis comes round," said one veteran Africa watcher, "there won't be too much resilience there."  

 In 2011, failed rains and insurgency led to Somalia suffering the worst famine worldwide in 25 years, claiming an estimated 258,000 lives, more than half of whom were children under five. The international community was blamed for reacting too late and doing too little to stop the mass death.

  Earlier this year the FAO itself reported that the food security situation in Somalia is expected to deteriorate in the months ahead due to reduced crop production resulting from poor seasonal rains, a surge in prices and reduced livestock production.

 Somalia’s Government has already declared drought in seven regions and warned that, if urgent measures are not taken there would be a repeat of the 2011 famine.

 There was no immediate response from the FAO press office.