Crop Failure Threat Prompts WFP Appeal for Somalia

A forecasted crop failure and insufficient funds could leave thousands of people in southern and central Somalia without food in the next six months, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday.

"We are calling for immediate contributions because the needs of the weakest Somalis -- mainly women and children -- are growing for reasons entirely beyond their control," Peter Goossens, WFP Country Director for Somalia, said in a statement.

WFP said 26,500 metric tonnes of food worth $19.5 million are required by the end of the year to feed one million people in the Horn of Africa country.

A predicted crop failure for July and August in much of southern and central Somalia due to poor rainfall has caused WFP to revise its provisions into 2008. It estimates a 50 percent increase in food assistance compared to this year.

Insecurity in the country caused by rounds of fighting between allied Somali-Ethiopian troops and Islamist insurgents has displaced thousands.

Threats of piracy off the Somali coast, one of the world's most dangerous, has jeopardised the already fragile supply lines for aid agencies.

"The people of Somalia have been hit by drought and floods last year and now insecurity and new displacements. They need humanitarian assistance to survive," Goossens said.

In a statement, WFP said it has distributed food aid to more than 924,000 people in southern and central Somalia since the beginning of this year. Without new contributions the agency said it will be short of food aid by October.