THE United Nations has appealed for $353m to provide food and other relief supplies to 13 million drought victims in five countries in the Horn of Africa. A UN official said famine had been avoided last year in the region, which has a chronic food shortage after three consecutive years of poor rains. But fresh funds were needed to provide clean water, health care, seeds and tools, and rebuild livestock herds in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. – Reuters