Some 3.2 million Ethiopians have been in urgent need of food aid over the past month, a drastic rise from the previous month's 2.2 million, a statement posted Monday on the UN website said.
"I am deeply concerned about the food security situation in Ethiopia, and the consequent increasing number of malnourished children, as a result of the current drought," UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes said in the statement.
"We will need a rapid scaling up of resources, especially food and nutritional supplies, to make increased life-saving aid a reality," he added. UN humanitarian agencies said they are facing a shortfall of food aid valued at 147 million U.S. dollars.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said 6 million children under five are at risk of acute malnutrition. UNICEF needs 1,800 metric tons of ready-to-use therapeutic food for the coming three months for two regions alone, but it only has 6 metric tons now and is due to receive another 90 metric tons.
The situation is further complicated by soaring food prices. According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), the price of maize increased 83 percent, sorghum 89 percent and wheat 54 percent from September 2007 to February 2008.
Source:Xinhua
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