UNITED NATIONS, Sep. 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed concerns about food insecurity in Sudan and Somalia, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said some 6.3 million people - or 14 percent of the Sudan's population - are experiencing crisis or worse levels of food insecurity, the highest on record since the introduction of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in Sudan in 2007.
In Somalia, late and erratic rains this year, coupled with low river levels, have led to the poorest cereal harvest since 2011 - up to 70 percent below average, the spokesman said, adding that without humanitarian assistance, up to 2.1 million people across Somalia face severe hunger through the end of the year.
According to OCHA's statement, climatic shocks coupled with widespread poverty and vulnerability are key drivers to food insecurity and malnutrition in Somalia.
Dujarric warned that humanitarian response plans remain underfunded in both countries. "In Somalia, a billion dollar appeal is only 45 percent funded and in Sudan, a 1.1 billion dollar appeal is only 31 percent funded."
