Erdogan, accompanied by his family and five cabinet ministers, has in the past days appealed for more food aid for the drought-hit nation and lashed out at wealthy Western nations for not doing more.
Somalia’s President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed welcomed Erdogan at the airport with a warm embrace, before Turkey’s premier, dressed in a sharp, crisp suit and his wife in haute-couture Islamic dress drove through the city’s rubbish-strewn streets.
At one dusty, windswept refugee settlement, Erdogan crouched inside the tent of Bashir and Fatima, a young couple mourning the loss of two of their four children who died after trekking 90 km (55 miles) to Mogadishu.
Erdogan’s wife Emine handed out chocolates and sweets.
The Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries pledged on Wednesday $350 million in aid to fight the famine which has left 3.7 million Somalis at risk of dying of hunger.
Erdogan has said he hoped the OIC’s efforts would jolt the consciences of those ignoring the unravelling humanitarian emergency.
A pious Muslim, he has called the disaster a “litmus test” for all humanity.