Malawi hunger crisis 'worsening'

Malawi has had its worst maize harvest in a decade

International aid agencies have warned of a sharp increase in the number of people in Malawi who may need food aid.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says some five million people - nearly half the population - may need aid after the maize harvest failed.

Poor rains and a lack of seeds and fertiliser have been blamed for the poor harvest, the worst in a decade.

Food prices have jumped sharply, and hundreds of people have already turned up at feeding centres.

'Rapidly worsening'

The WFP said the problem was much more severe than it had anticipated.

It said it had planned to feed more than two million people until April 2006.

Many report that they are only eating one meal or less per day World Food Programme

"However due to a rapidly worsening situation, WFP is now planning to feed up to 2.9 million people in the southern districts," the agency said.

This week WFP confirmed that 29 children in southern Malawi had died of hunger-related illnesses between January and September.

WFP spokesman Simon Pluess said in Geneva on Friday: "The window of opportunity to help is very short."

Malawi is not the only southern African country facing a food crisis.

The UN now believes some 12 million people across the region will need international help.

Many of them are in nearby Zimbabwe, where analysts say the food crisis has been exacerbated by President Robert Mugabe's land redistribution programme.