Hunger threatens 23m in East Africa

International aid group Oxfam says 23 million people are threatened with severe hunger in East Africa due to climate change.

“This is the worst humanitarian crisis Oxfam has seen in East Africa for over ten years,” Paul Smith Lomas, Oxfam's East Africa Director said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Uganda are the worst-hit nations by severe drought, whereas Sudan, Djibouti and Tanzania are also suffering ill effects.

This is while 'failed and unpredictable rains are ever more regular' across the region, Lomas says.

Thousands of animals have already succumbed to the drought, which is mainly blamed on climate change and global warming.

In Kenya alone, some 3.8 million people are in dire need of emergency aid, as deadly conflicts over diminishing water supplies intensify among pastoralists.

In Somalia, which has also been hit by a bloody insurgency, another 3.8 million people - around half the population - are dependent on food aid.

Over 13 million Ethiopians are also facing food shortages, the UK-based agency said.

The charity organization has already appealed for $15 million to help some 750,000 people in need of emergency food aid.

However, aid agencies operating in the region have suffered massive funding shortfalls this year, as developed countries tighten their belts in the face of the global financial crisis.