An FAO statement also cited Kenyan government estimates that at least 2.5 million are facing famine there and poor rains are only expected to make things worse.

Kenyan medical officials believe the death toll from hunger is already much higher than the at least 30 fatalities reported by local media as many deaths go unreported in the desolate and arid north of the country.

"The Kenyan meteorological service says the chances that the March and April rains will be timely and sufficient is very low. That could create a very dangerous situation," Shukri Ahmed, a FAO economist specialising in Africa, told Reuters.

The Kenyan government has appealed for $150 million to feed the hungry, almost 10 percent of the population, over the next six months.

FAO said additional assistance was required to provide water for both people and animals, restock livestock and give seeds to farmers in preparation for the next crop season.

In Somalia, the October-December rainy season was disappointing in most of the eight agricultural regions in the south resulting in widespread crop failure. FAO said the forthcoming crop, about to be harvested, could be the lowest in a decade.

It said that according to the World Food Programme about 64,000 tonnes of food aid were needed there until June 2006 and that so far only 16,700 tonnes are available.

"Immediate response to the WFP appeal is required to avert possible hunger-related deaths in southern Somalia," FAO said.

In Ethiopia, despite favourable prospects for the main season crop, currently being harvested, severe food shortages were being reported in the eastern and southern pastoral areas.