The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on Monday launched an appeal for 460 million dollars (315 million euros) to feed 9.6 million people affected by drought and rising food prices in Ethiopia.
"The Horn of Africa region is facing the worst humanitarian crisis since 1984, and Ethiopia is caught in the middle," said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran in a statement.
"We know what needs to be done — we just need the funds to go out and do our job, protecting the hungry," she added. "Millions of people are in extreme distress and urgently need food and nutrition.
"WFP is facing a similar humanitarian challenge in neighbouring Somalia, where 3.25 million people — almost half the population — have been affected by drought, high food prices and conflict," the statement added.
The WFP said around two million of those in need in Ethiopia live in its arid and restive Somali region (not to be confused with the neighbouring state of Somalia), where the army has been cracking down on rebels and the delivery of aid has been hampered.
Aid organisations say Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country, is on the brink of famines akin to those of the 1980s, when millions of people died.
