| Updated Aug 11, 2017 at 8:00am
The number of people going hungry in Ethiopia has risen by 5.6 million so far this year due to poor rainfall, exacerbating severe drought conditions, the UN said on Thursday.
The whole East Africa region has been badly affected by three years of insufficient rainfall to grow crops and feed or raise livestock, such as cattle.
The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance across East Africa has increased by about 30 per cent since late 2016, according to UN estimates.
The total for Ethiopia alone currently stands at 8.5 million people, and humanitarian actors are scaling up operations in support of government-led efforts to alleviate the crisis.
UNRadio/ GBC
