United Nations officials say years of drought and war, as well as high food prices and the global financial crisis, have made the Horn of Africa one of the most critical hunger areas in the world, with 23-million people not getting enough to eat.
The World Food Programme will need $1-billion to provide food aid in the next six months in the region, which includes Ethiopia and Somalia among others. More than half of those hungry are in Ethiopia, and include four million to five million children under the age of five.
Officials discussed the region’s situation at a news conference on Wednesday during a food summit at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The Rome-based agency says more than one billion are hungry worldwide. — Sapa-AP