Ethiopia hunger: your questions

Ethiopia is experiencing an extreme hunger crisis. The BBC's Gavin Hewitt has been reporting from the worst affected areas in the country

The local people call it a "green drought", because the land is full of new shoots but there is no food. It happens because there was a shortage of rainfall last season and few crops were planted.

Gavin Hewitt says what he has seen in the villages is not famine - but it is a crisis.

The number of Ethiopians in need of emergency food aid in drought-affected regions has risen to 4.5m, a government body said.

The United Nations Children"s Fund, UNICEF, said that 3.4m people were in need of emergency assistance in southern and central regions affected by one of the worst droughts in years.

Aid organisations say there could be an escalation in the crisis in Ethiopia, a country that drew international attention in 1984 when a famine killed some 1m people.

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