Michael Dunford, WFP's regional director for East Africa, said water and grasslands are scarce and rainfall forecasts in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are below average for the next month, which could exacerbate the crisis.
"Crops are spoiling, livestock are dying, hunger is increasing, and recurrent droughts are afflicting the Horn of Africa," he added.
He explained that "the situation requires immediate humanitarian action" to avoid a recurrence of a crisis like the one in Somalia in 2011, where 250,000 people died of starvation during a prolonged drought.
Three years have passed without an actual rainy season, the United Nations program said, and the region is recording the driest conditions since 1981.
The drought affected crops and caused an "abnormally high" animal mortality rate, forcing families living in the countryside who live off animal husbandry and agriculture to abandon their homes.
According to the World Food Program, $327 million is needed to meet immediate needs over the next six months and help communities become more resilient to recurrent food shocks.
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