Food Shortages Seen In Much Of Africa

Some 23 million people in sub-Saharan Africa face food shortages this year and donor supplies are declining, a U.N. agency said Thursday.

Food aid is expected to drop by 20 percent “due to a tightening supply, demand and budgetary constraints for some aid donors,” the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said in its quarterly forecast, released in Nairobi.

The report predicted a regional grain harvest of 8 million tons less than last year, blaming widespread drought and civil strife “which continue to disrupt farming and distribution” in some countries.