Malawi authorities say floods threaten famine

Local officials in one of the worst-hit flooded regions of Malawi, in the Lower Shire Valley, say it's under threat again after more heavy rains in the area.

In one district Chikwawa the commissioner in charge Kiswell Dakamau says thousands of hectares of crops are under water, raising fears of a serious food shortage later this year.

An outbreak of cholera has already killed 20 people; an unknown number are reported to have died from malaria.

It's estimated that more than three hundred thousand people have been displaced by the floods in Malawi.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service