Mark Snelling of the British Red Cross, who recently visited drought-hit Somalia, writes about the difficulty of getting aid right.

Day 4

We spent the night in Merka, another once prosperous sea-front town. It's a beautiful spot on a stunning stretch of coastline and used to be a popular weekend destination for Mogadishu's wealthier classes. The postcard panorama is interrupted these days by the rusting shell of a shipwrecked tanker, a silent monument to Somalia's forgotten disintegration.

Our first stop is Warermaleh village, where the ICRC rehabilitated a hand-dug well in 2004, providing a reliable water source for both the local inhabitants and the recent influx of the displaced. In a country where so much of the fighting focuses on resources, providing access to water at key pressure points across the country is a pivotal component of Red Cross strategy here.

It is also why food distribution is such a delicate business. Provide too little and the humanitarian mandate to help the vulnerable becomes meaningless. Provide too much and you risk not only destabilising the domestic market but also setting the stage for exacerbated tension and conflict.

In effect, killing with kindness. This is why ICRC distributions will stop in July. It makes sense.

Talking to a group of the displaced in Warermaleh, we get some good news. About 100 families were able to return home after a seed distribution two months ago. All being well, they will have planted their fields in time to benefit from the return of the rains. I'm glad for them.

Dualeh, our field officer, gets a message through that our flight is going to be landing early, so we need to move. It's frustrating that time is so short.

But we have one more stop to make. At Bulo Sheikh village, 13 kilometres from the airstrip, they've just begun a food distribution for about 400 families. We don't get to stay long, but it's a chance to meet some of the Somali Red Cross volunteers, without whom so much of the operation would simply not happen.

"I've always wanted to support my fellow Somalis," says Abdul Majid, who has been a volunteer since 1988. It's easy to collect this kind of quote with a trite leading question, but wherever I've been with the Red Cross, I am continually humbled by the dedication of its volunteers. They face pressures we could never imagine.

He shows me a handful of acacia pods, explaining that this is what has passed for a square meal for many of these people. This kind of wild fruit is indeed a staple for millions across Africa. The problem is that for many, there's nothing else.

We get back to K50 and say goodbye to Dualeh. It moves me that he remembers my last visit so clearly. We shake hands and agree to look forward to our next meeting. I can only hope that he will be showing me around a country that has found at least a modicum of peace.

To read Mark's Day 1 blog, click here.

To read Mark's Day 2 blog, click here.

To read Mark's Day 3 blog, click here.